Stella and the Minx #24:
Stellar Man Returns!
The Minx a wanted
criminal!
Stella missing!
And just when
everything looks bad…
Stellar Man
returns?
If you read only
one amateur superheroine erotic story this year make it this one!
Marcus Lycus
January 2009
Legal Horrors – Stella, the Minx and other characters
are copyright and trademark Marcus Lycus.
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And
since this story is meant for people over the age of 18, please don’t read it
if you are younger than that.
Any
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Remember feedback leads to more stories!
Issue
24 – Stellar Man returns
Gloria Barbarossa yawned and glanced at the clock. It was almost 7 am! She’d slept almost eight hours! She was surprised
“Hey
No answer.
She opened Stella’s door.
The room was empty. The bed
unused.
“Okay…” The sight
sent a shiver of fear up Gloria’s spine.
If Stella was missing, this might be a lot bigger than a murder frame!
She picked up the phone.
***
Lynn Lewis opened her eyes and stretched. She looked around at the pink and white room,
decorated with stuffed animals, and dolls.
She smiled; it was so nice to be back home.
Then she gasped. She
wasn’t in her room at the penthouse at all!
This was her old room, the one Stellar Man built for her back at the
Citadel of Isolation! It was like she’d
gone back two years in time!
She could feel the cold from the icy walls. She shivered.
But she was never cold, her powers kept her warm!
Then she noticed it, a harsh red light beat down on her
making her powerless! “Hello?” She called.
She got out of bed.
“Gloria? Anyone?
What’s going on?” She tried the
door. It was locked. She pounded on it. She stared at it. She blew it.
But nothing happened. She was
powerless.
“Funny. I’ve spent
months trying to rebuild one of those rays and now I have one. I should be careful what I wish for…”
She looked around the room.
It had been years since she spent any time in it. There were dozens of stuffed toys, gifts from
well-wishers around the world and beyond.
There was her robot teddy bear, her thought-powered paint set and her
dollhouse with dolls made from living wax.
All that stuff had stopped working ages ago of course but it was still
there.
For some reason
She walked around again.
In her closet she had dozens of dresses and outfits, all of them too
small for her now. In the drawers were
priceless jewels from a dozen worlds. A
door led to her magnificent bathroom complete with a diamond-shaped hot
tub. She checked, the water still ran.
“At least I won’t die of thirst.”
Stella heard it. The
door was opening. She looked around in a
hurry, but this was a girl’s room. There
were no baseball bats or hockey sticks to use as a weapon. Besides anyone powerful enough to catch her
could probably handle a powerless Stella.
The door opened.
Stella gasped.
“No! It’s can’t
be! You’re dead!”
“Come on Cousin Lynn, you should know, Stellar Man always
wins!”
***
“Sweet liberty, you know I want to help you Minx but I
can’t. You’re a fugitive! I should take you in right now!”
“Princess Patriot I’m not asking you to help me, it’s Stella
who’s missing.”
The patriotic heroine mulled it over and finally muttered
“fine.” Then she added “But Minx, if I
see you again and you’re still wanted…”
“I understand Princess.”
“I’m sorry Minx. But
it’s my duty as a heroine.” Then she
flew away.
“Bitch.” The Minx
muttered under breath. She turned and
headed the other way. She wanted to get
out of the morning sun before any cops spotted her. She jumped off the roof, into an alleyway and
into the black sports car she was using today.
She quickly removed her mask, reversed her coat and the Minx was gone,
replaced by Ms. Smith, honest, nondescript citizen.
She turned on the radio.
“…police
say no progress on finding the escaped murderess the Minx. Noted criminologist Doctor Ashley Acker says
the Minx may have gone insane and is highly dangerous…”
“Great, so I’m an escaped lunatic now. Lucky Princess P didn’t hear that before she
saw me.”
“…BREAKING
NEWS! A blue and red figure has been
spotted over Megapolis and sources tell us it’s not Stella! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve
all been waiting for had come! STELLAR
MAN HAS RETURNED!”
“Well that just makes today perfect.”
***
“To tell the truth, you’re the one who saved me
“But… but…”
“After all the sun is the source of our stellar powers. By throwing me into the sun you energized
them so much it shook me out of the death-like coma I was in!”
“But… but… you were dead!
You were rotting! You smelled!”
“Yes there was quite a bit of tissue damage which is why it
took me so long to recover but you know our stellar bodies can recover from
almost any wound.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry
“But I don’t want-“
“Hush cousin. We’ll
talk later. I have an appointment back
in Megapolis.”
“But-“
“It will all be OK Lynn.
I promise.”
***
“I didn’t tell him anything Gloria.”
Gloria Barbarossa sat dumbly across the coffee shop table
from her friend Policewoman Pepper Dickinson.
The blonde had a black eye and bruises on her face. She walked gingerly, wincing in pain.
“Boss Bruno?”
“I played dumb, just like I told you I would. Even when he threatened my parents. I think I convinced him.” She paused and chuckled dryly. “They’re saying you did this to me. They might give me a medal.”
“Pepper, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, I never wanted-“
“Just promise me you’ll get him Gloria.”
“I promise.”
There were cries on the street; people were running around
screaming and pointing. The Minx jumped
to her feet.
“I’m sorry Pepper, I have to-“
“I understand. Go get
them Gloria.”
“I’m sorry.” She ran
out the door.
***
“The
Air Force has confirmed the Stellar-Ship has been sighted flying towards
Megapolis! You may recall it was almost
two years ago that Stellar Man and his girlfriend Polly Path left Earth aboard
the Stellar-Ship, and now they have apparently returned! Thousands of people are converging on
The Minx joined the crowd, catching reports in her
diamond-powered earring radio receivers.
This disturbed her more than anything else. A dozen explanations raced through her brain,
each more frightening than the last.
An imposter? A
clone? One of Satan’s
Cheerleader’s? An alternate Stellar Man
from parallel world? Time travel? But the most frightening idea was what if it
was true? What if exposure to the sun
had somehow revived Stellar Man and now he was back? He probably wouldn’t be too happy to see one
of the women who helped hide his corpse.
She wondered if there was time to get the stellar energy ray
from Dr. Corvidae’s lab. She shook her
head. If the Man of the Stars wanted
revenge he’d have already come for her.
She joined the back of the crowd assembling on the
meadow. It was the same place she and
Stella staged Stellar man’s farewell, it seemed the most logical place for
Stellar Man to make his return.
Sure enough the Stellar-Ship soon appeared overhead and
slowly descended to the ground. The
crowd parted to make space. A hush fell
over them. Tens of thousands of people
were gathered but none of them made a sound.
They waited, breathlessly.
Gloria could actually hear the hatch open with a hiss.
Stellar Man stepped out and rose gracefully into the air,
hovering over all of them, turning slowly so everyone could see him.
“People of Megapolis.
I’m back. Miss me?”
The crowd roared! If
John F Kennedy, the Beatles and Santa Claus had stepped from that ship they
could not have cheered louder.
Stellar man had altered his costume a bit, adding a collar
to the cape, yellow piping to his boots, exchanging his yellow belt for a red
sash and adding a pair of gloves. The
overall effect was to make him look more regal.
The Minx wasn’t sure what to make of it.
He gestured and they fell silent again.
“I have had a long and memorable journey, I have seen things
no human has ever seen before, I have walked on alien worlds under the light of
strange suns, I have encountered civilizations that were ancient when we lived
in caves but… Nothing beats being home!”
The crowd roared again.
“I have many tales to share but they will have to wait until
a more… suitable time. For now I have
some happy news to share with you all.
Once I was alone in my never-ending battle for honesty, liberty and the
American dream. Then my cousin Stellar
Girl joined me. But she was always my
little cousin, never really my partner.
But in my travels I discovered something amazing, something wonderful,
an alien scientist performed a miracle for me, a miracle for all of
mankind. He took a portion of my powers
and passed them on to the love of my life, to the woman I married. People of Megapolis, I present to you Polly
Path… or as you will learn to call her…”
“STELLAR
WOMAN!”
From inside the ship a dark-haired woman appeared and joined
her husband in the sky. She wore a red
minidress and a blue cape decorated with her husband’s ‘S’ symbol.
The crowd screamed again.
Hundreds of camera flashed.
Again Stellar Man gestured for silence, again he got
it.
“And now I have one final announcement. Cousin?”
Stella rose from the ship.
But she wasn’t wearing her modern costume with its red hotpants and
low-cut blue blouse. She was dressed in
her old blue minidress and boots. She
seemed shy and embarrassed in front of all these people.
“I um… hello everyone.
I know that lately, I’ve not been… my behavior… um… I just want to say
I’m sorry. I tired to live up to Stellar
Man’s example and… I guess I fell in
with the wrong crowd.”
The Minx looked to her left and her right. People were crying, people were nodding,
people were smiling. They agreed!
“For months now the Minx has been going on about how men are
evil and how she was going to show them who’s boss. And I guess she finally snapped. I saw her kill that poor man. But she had a scientist build a stellar
radiation ray and threatened to use it if I told the police. But now that Stellar Man is back I promise I
won’t rest until I bring her to justice and redeem my good name! The name of Stellar Girl!”
More screams, more agreement.
The three stellar beings, the first family of superheroes
returned to their ship and it slowly rose into the air. People ran after it yelling and crying
out. It seemed all of Megapolis was
standing by their windows or on the roof to see it go by. Finally it disappeared.
The Minx smiled. So
that’s what was going on. She had to
laugh. Things weren’t nearly as bad as
she feared.
***
The door to Stella’s pink bedroom opened again. But this time she was ready.
“You’re not
“I- Great Galaxies Cousin Lynn, you’re smarter than I
remember. What gave me away?”
“Foot prints. Cousin
Ken was a big guy but he didn’t leave impressions in the carpet like you metal
guys do. I’m not some bimbo! I grew up around you stupid robots!”
“Well I guess I’d better explain-“
“Robot I order you to turn off this red light and let me
go!”
“Sorry
“I order you!”
“I heard you the first time.”
“You have to obey me!
It’s… I mean you’re programmed to-“
Stellar Man tapped his head and smirked. “True, true any of the others would have to
follow your orders or Stellar Man’s. But
if you’d been paying attention you might remember one robot named SM-1. Stellar Man programmed me with his own brain
scan so that I could fool even his close friends for long periods. I’m as close to Stellar Man as anyone can
be.”
“But I smashed you! I
smashed all of you! You tried to kill
me!”
“Actually Lynn if you’ll recall I saved you from robot SG-1
who was trying to kill you. You smashed
me because I tried to kiss you.”
“I… oh. Right. Sorry.”
“No matter. You only
destroyed my head. My robot brain is
kept in my torso. Once I was reactivated
it was easy to replace the head.”
“Reactivated but I didn’t-“
“No you didn’t.”
“And I smashed all the other robots.”
“Almost all.”
“Who?”
The door opened again and Stellar Woman entered. She sashayed across the room and wrapped her
arms around
“You’re the robot from Stellar Man’s bedroom! The sex robot! The Minx told me about you!”
Polly hissed at Stella.
“I was his lover! I was
programmed to be his perfect companion in all ways!”
“And she was. She
heard my distress signal and rebuilt me.”
“But what do you want?”
“As I said I was programmed with Stellar Man’s brain
waves. Now that he’s gone I’m the
closest thing to him left. I will take his
place.”
“No! No you’re
not! I’m his cousin! I took his place!”
“And how has that gone Cousin Lynn? Have you upheld his name? Have you defended honest, liberty and the
American dream?”
“I tried!”
“Tell me
“Huh?”
“Polly!” Stellar Man
looked shocked.
“Answer the question
“No.” She scowled.
“Tell me Lynn, who was your first?”
“Huh?”
“Have there been so many?
Who was first?”
“I uh… it was this creepy robot, Prince Cavinu, he was
really Univac. I guess.” Stella frowned and rubbed her head.
Polly smiled. “A
robot, you lost your maidenhead to a robot.
How very sad.” She looked at
Stellar Man who squirmed uncomfortably.
Stella just nodded, her eyes were squeezed shut, she was in
visible pain.
“And how many since then?”
“Huh? Oh um, a
couple.” She relaxed, her sudden
headache was gone.
“A lot. You’ve become
quite the little tart haven’t you?”
“It’s not my fault!”
“It never is, is it
“Polly that’s enough.”
Stellar Man stopped her. “I’m
sorry Cousin Lynn, but we’ve been watching you and for now, you’re going to be
replaced too.”
“WHAT!”
The door opened a third time and Stellar Girl walked
in. It was one of Stella’s old robot
duplicates, a few inches shorter than she was now.
“Hello Stellar Man, Stellar Woman. Stars and comets! Is that the fake Stellar Girl you told me
about?”
“Yes it is Stellar Girl.
She calls herself Stella. She’d
been using your good name for the last two years; she’s done some terrible things.”
“Stars and comets!
Good thing we came back when we did.
There’s no telling what that fake might have done!”
“Quite true Stellar Girl.
Now you’d better get back to your room and rest, we have a big day of
patrolling tomorrow.”
“Yes sir! I can’t wait!”
The robot double left.
Stella sat there speechless.
Finally she said “You can’t be serious… that won’t fool anyone.”
“It fooled a couple of thousand people this afternoon. People will believe it because they want to
believe it. After years of turmoil they
want old values back, they want things back the way they were. And a proper, well behaved Stellar Girl is
part of that.”
“You… you didn’t tell her she’s a robot?”
“Her programming isn’t as sophisticated as ours, we had to
make due. Which brings me to the last
part.
“WHAT?”
“Even though we’re robots we’re not as powerful as you. And, as I said, Stellar Girl’s programming is
not the best.”
“Of course we’ll need to monitor your behavior.” Stellar Woman added icily. “We can’t have you running around
incinerating street gangs.”
“That wasn’t my fault.
They tricked me.”
“Of course not
“That wasn’t my-“
“I think that’s enough Stellar Woman, let her think for a
while, I’m sure Cousin Lynn will come around.”
They closed the door behind them.
“We should get rid of her!”
Stellar Woman hissed. “With SG-1
on line we don’t need her.”
“Polly we talked about this.
She’s Stellar Man’s cousin, the last of his line. We have to bring her over to our side. We owe that to him. If we get rid of her we’re no better than
Claudius Crowe.”
“It’s what she would do.”
“And we’re trying to be better than her. To make her a better person.”
“And if she doesn’t listen?”
“Then… the psyclotron.
We take her mind apart and put it back together. Put it back the way it was.”
The two stood quietly for a minute.
“I saw how you looked at her.”
“Polly she’s my cousin!
I mean his cousin, I mean practically my cousin.”
“Try to remember that Ken.”
***
The Minx looked at the piles of paper in frustration. Her Minx Computer had found lists of every
competitive sharpshooter and archer in the country. Right now her only clue was the ‘Good
Samaritan’ who took her in had made an almost impossible shot with a tranq dart
from a half mile away in the dead of night.
Even an Olympic archer would have had a hard time. Whoever did had to have been trained. She would call every champion shooter in the
country, in the world if she had to, and find out who could have made that
shot. Somewhere, someone would know.
She shook her head.
She knew she was grasping at straws.
And while she was calling archery schools the real criminal was still
out there and the cops were still hunting for her. And here she was sitting in her bathrobe
sifting through hundreds of names.
DING-DONG!
She froze! Gloria
Barbarossa wasn’t expecting anyone. She
slipped on one of her Minx bracelets; if this was a salesman he’d get a nasty
surprise.
She opened the door.
“Gloria!”
“
They hugged.
“Foxy, I came as soon as I heard, why didn’t you call
me!? I was seeing some friends in
“Stella’s missing
“Oh.”
“That’s a robot flying around pretending to be Stella,
Stellar Man and Stellar Woman are robots too.”
“Huh. Well we can
still put together a plan-“
“Stella’s missing, the police want me, someone’s framed me
for murder. I think it will take more
than a costume switch and some fast talk to get out of this one.”
“But your father and Wes would always-“
“My father isn’t commissioner anymore, and I’m not Wes.”
“I know but-“
They sat together on the couch. Gloria put her arms around the former
Ferret. “They hate me Warren. I could see it in their faces when they
brought me in. No matter what I do, they
hate me. They hate me for being smarter
than them, for being faster, and most of all for being a woman. When they snapped the cuffs on me one of them
said ‘it’s about time’. They’ve been
waiting for this.”
“It’s not that bad Foxy, I mean you always knew it would be
hard being a woman in a man’s world but-“
She put her head on his shoulder. “I knew it would be hard, but nothing like
this. I just feel so alone. Like no one respects me. Like no one cares. I just need someone…” She kissed
The Minx jerked back.
“Ohmygod, of course not, oh I’m so embarrassed, I just… I just…” She curled into a ball and cried.
***
At a downtown bookstore James Saxon ignored the protesting
feminists. He was here to sign his new
fantasy novel Slave Girls of Rog and there was no way some frail little
girls were going to stop him.
“Out of my way bimbo!”
He shoved some bra-less women’s libber out of his way and strode
manfully into the shop. A crowd of men
cheered as he took his seat. He flipped
open his copy and read a passage aloud.
“As the
barbarian warlord took my slim, nude body in his meaty arms I felt the last
constraints of my ‘civilized’, ‘liberated’ life as a co-ed at a northeastern
liberal arts school slip away. All the
poisons our culture fed us had led me away from the natural world where the
male is always dominant over the female.
I felt the juices flow between my legs.
My body understood the truth. It
was my natural role to serve a man. As
his slave.”
TWANG!
A window shattered, a small diamond-tipped dart shot through
it. It embedded itself right between
James Saxon’s eyes.
He fell dead.
Over a hundred people saw a fur-clad woman running along the
rooftops outside.
***
“
“Yeah.”
“Can I sit down?”
“Yeah.”
Stellar Man gently sat down next to the weeping blonde. She put her head on his lab and he played
with her hair.
“I fucked it up.” She
said quietly. “I had my chance and blew
it. Stars and comets that stupid robot
is a better Stellar Girl than me.”
“Now, now
“She hates me.”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
“Well she’s programmed with Polly Path’s personality and
Polly; well Polly never liked you much.”
“She didn’t?”
“She was always polite to you but no, she never liked
you. Every time you flew by I could see
that twitch in her face, that bit of anger.
She always thought it should be her.
That Stellar Man should have found a way to give her powers. She understood that we were cousins and that
the method couldn’t work for her but still…
I don’t think she ever got over that.”
“Stars and comets I never knew. But what about robot me? Even robot me hates the real me.”
“Well SG-1 is based on your personality and I guess...”
“Yeah. Everyone hates
me. I even hate myself.”
“I don’t hate you
“Thanks.”
“I’ve seen you, you’ve had some rough times, you got some
bad advice from your partner but you tried.
You have a good heart
Stella set up and looked at Stellar Man; she wiped some tears
from her eyes. “Do you really think so?”
“If you’re willing to make the effort, if you’re willing to
join us. Then yes.”
“I… I’ll try.”
“I know you will
She could feel Stellar Man’s hand behind her head, she
pursed her lips and he went for the kiss.
They kissed. And kissed
again. Then Stellar Man got up and left.
Stella sat there for a while, emotions ripping through her
brain. There was something about that
kiss, something about this room, something about those questions Polly kept
asking… something…
“AH!” She screamed, a
sharp pain ripped through her head. She
collapsed limp onto the bed.
Memories came.
***
The
year was 1968…
Stellar
Girl had been revealed to the world just two years before and 18-year old Lynn
Lewis was finally leaving the orphanage and entering Middleton Girl’s Junior
College and
“What
now Lewis?”
“I’m
sorry professor, but I need to step outside!
Um, women’s trouble.”
“Very
well then, but hurry back.”
“Yes
sir, of course sir!”
Scowling
the professor returned to teaching shorthand to the future secretaries of
Lynn
Lewis vanished down the hall and ducked into a storage room. Seconds later Stellar Girl shot out the
window.
She
could still hear Stellar Man’s signal, he wanted her right away. She sped north towards the Citadel of
Isolation.
“Ah,
hello Stellar Girl, you’re just in time to see my new invention.”
“New
invention? But Cousin Ken I had class,
I’m in college now.” Her quiet voice
became a whine.
“So
this was good practice for you in getting out of social situations. You never know when there will be an
emergency. Besides you’re only in a
girl’s college I doubt they were discussing anything important.”
“Yes
Stellar Man” she said without conviction.
It seemed her whole life was one long exercise in making excuses and
missing out.
Stellar
Man pointed to a metal chair with an elaborate head piece over it. “I call it the psyclotron!”
“Cyclotron? Like an atom smasher?”
“No
Stellar Girl, a P-S-Y-clotron.” He pointed
to the handy sign next to the machine: ‘Psyclotron – DANGEROUS’.
“Just
as an atom smasher takes apart nuclear particles and allows us to see inside
them the psyclotron will take apart minds and allow us to see inside.”
“Take
apart minds? Stars and comets! That sounds dangerous!”
“For
an ordinary mortal maybe, but for a stellar human like myself it’s
perfect. I will be able to record my own
brain waves and create an electronic record.”
“Huh?”
“Then
I can use those records to program one of my decoy robots! It will seem just like me since its
electronic brain will be based on my brain waves.”
“Stars
and comets! That’s great. Can you make one for me?”
“I’m
afraid not Stellar Girl; you lack most of my powers so the psyclotron might
harm your mind. Otherwise I would. Fortunately your decoy robot SG-1 seems to be
doing fine.”
“Yeah,
I guess.” Stellar Girl hated that
robot. It was always polite, always full
of energy, always eager, always obedient.
It was like a caricature of what she should be. Like some unobtainable
standard she could never live up to.
“Now
then, let’s start. You will need to
operate the device.”
Stellar
Girl looked over at the enormous switch labeled ‘on’ and ‘off’ apparently that
was as much as Stellar Man thought she could handle. She nodded.
Hours
later the experiment was done and Stellar Girl was moping in her room. She didn’t feel like heading back to
Middleton where she had no friends and no one to talk to.
She
went into her bathroom and turned on the bath.
The bathwater was infused with some radioactive minerals that emitted
red solar radiation and lowered her powers so she could actually feel the heat
of the water. She didn’t quite
understand how it worked but she knew it made her feel good. She stripped off her red cape and blue
minidress and ran her hand through the bathwater. It felt good.
She reached down and pulled off her red boots and wiggled her toes. The boots were feeling a bit tight lately,
she’d grown a bit. She made a note to
tell Stellar Man she needed new ones.
Finally she pulled down her blue panties and settled into the
water. She could feel her pores open and
just floated on the red-tinged water.
She took some deep breaths; it was nice to just float, powerless and
free of responsibilities.
Finally
she emerged from the water and wrapped a pink towel around herself. She decided
to spend the night at the Citadel; Middleton would still be there tomorrow.
“Oh!” Stellar Man was in her room. Standing in the center. Waiting.
With her powers gone she’d never noticed him entering. “Is
something wrong? An
emergency?” She turned towards the bathroom
to get her costume.
“No
Cousin Lynn. I… we need to talk.”
“Um…” She looked again at her costume on the floor
of the bathroom but Stellar Man gestured for the bed. Towel pulled tight around her wet body
Stellar Girl sat down next to him.
“You’re
spending the night here?”
“Yeah,
um… you know it’s a long flight back.”
She felt embarrassed; she knew she shouldn’t dodge her secret identity
like this.
“It’s
hard being alone.” Stellar Man
said. “Knowing that there’s almost no
one in the world like you.”
“Yeah.” Stellar Girl added simply, not sure where
this was going.
“You
don’t have a boyfriend.” It wasn’t a
question. Stellar Girl was really
squirming now. Stellar Man knew
that! He was the one who said she
couldn’t have one!
“Well
you know, woman of steel, man of tissue paper.”
“I
know, believe me Lynn, I know. It’s the
same with me and Polly.”
“I
guess…” Of course at least Stellar Man
could have dates and talk to Polly without being reprimanded. But she held her tongue.
“But
you want one don’t you, a boyfriend?”
“Huh? Stars and comets, of course I want to meet a
nice boy and get married some day. Some
day…”
“Our
powers put us above ordinary mortals.
They are a great gift but they come at a heavy price. As long as Earth needs our protection we can
never be with an ordinary human. Never.”
“I… I
guess not.” Stellar Girl looked down,
she’d never thought of it that way.
“But
there is one woman on Earth for me.” He
turned and looked into his cousin’s eyes.
“S-Stellar
Man? But…” She could feel his hand behind her head he
pulled her closer, they kissed. They
kissed again. She pulled away.
“But…
we’re cousins! We can’t!”
“Actually
“No
but…”
He
pulled her close; she could feel his warm body through the costume, through her
thin towel. And then the towel was
gone. She saw it flying through the air
onto the floor. And Stellar Girl was on
her back. And Stellar Man was kissing
her naked shoulders, his hands just below her breasts, brushing them ever so
slightly.
“S-Stellar
Man… I feel…”
“I
know
Then
she felt it, thicker than a finger, hot to the touch, it probed between her
legs. She parted them wider; he put her
hands on his bare butt and pulled him closer, closer and…
“AHH!” She screamed at the sudden pain. She could feel blood trickle inside her. Stellar Man pushed in harder, she gasped
again, feeling her body stretch. She
winced in pain. He kissed her shoulders
again, rubbed her breasts, kept a slow and steady rhythm. She relaxed, it felt good again. It was starting to feel very good. Very, very good.
And
then…
The
door opened. And Stellar Man was
there.
“
“Master
please! I know how you feel about
her! I know how lonely you are! I was only trying to-“
SMASH!
Stellar
Man hurled the robot against the wall shattering it. A broken leg twitched a few times on the
floor and stopped moving.
Stellar
Man turned towards his cousin. He
vanished in a blur and she was wrapped in a robe.
“
Stellar
Girl just sat there, her mouth moving and nothing coming out.
“Believe
me Lynn I would never… I could never… I…”
He put a hand on her shoulder.
She
screamed!
“Lynn
it’s going to be OK, I promise. Just
look into my eyes, look deep into my eyes.”
She did, strange colors swirled in Stellar Man’s blue eyes, her face
went slack. “
Stellar
Girl woke up in her bed and stretched.
Nothing like a good night’s rest to recharge the old stellar
batteries! She felt a bit silly, she’d
fallen asleep in her robe, she hadn’t even put on her pajamas. She looked around her room with its pink
décor and its alien toys watching her with their dead eyes. She felt a sudden chill. This room didn’t feel so welcoming all of the
sudden. Not welcoming at all. Something was moving in her dollhouse. Curious she walked over. Two of the living wax dolls, the mommy and
daddy were in the bedroom. The daddy was
on top of the mommy, doing something.
Something…
Her
eyes flashed red and the wax dolls melted.
She
ran to the bathroom and put on her costume.
Suddenly she didn’t want to be in there any more.
***
Stella opened her eyes.
“No…” She
muttered. “No that can’t be what
happened…”
But she knew it was the truth.
“Hello
It was the Polly Path robot.
Stellar Woman.
“Remember now?”
“How did you…”
“I was his lover remember?
He always felt guilty about it.
You know how he was, he felt responsible for everything. I can’t remember how many times I held him in
my arms while he whined and moaned about what happened to you. I don’t even think SM-1 remembers what
happened. Stellar Man made some pretty
hefty changes to his program after that.”
“Was it true? Did
Stellar Man really feel… like that?”
“Yup. Oh he loved me
but I was always unobtainable. But you
were there, always so cheerful, always so obedient, so submissive, flying
around him in that short skirt… He was a
man after all.”
“Did he ever-“
“No. I think he would
have killed himself if he had. God knows
he tortured himself enough just for thinking about it.”
“Why didn’t he just use a red stellar ray and-“
“Fuck Polly? Slip her
the old stellar rod?”
“Don’t be gross.”
“It was the principal.
As long as he felt responsible for the world he couldn’t allow himself
that kind of attachment. That’s why he
built me. But I was never enough for
him; I was just a toy filling in for the real deal.”
“Is that why you hate me?”
“Yup. I can see it in
his eyes; SM-1 looks down on me. To him
I’m just a robot but you… you’re real.
The last living tie to
“So…”
“Let me be clear Stella, I was made to love him. And if you touch him I’ll burn you to ash.”
***
“Are you sure Gloria?
I’m perfectly happy to stay.”
“No
“If you need anything, anything at all-“
“I know you’ll be there.
I’ll call if I need help
“Hi Gloria!”
“Stella!?” She spun
and faced the voice behind her.
“Close but no
cigar!” It wasn’t Stella. It was Stellar Girl.
“Oh, it’s just you robot.
Where’s my partner?”
“I’m not a robot! I’m
the real Stellar Girl! Your partner’s
the fake!”
The Minx noted the correction. She quickly reviewed everything she knew
about Stellar Man’s robot doubles. They
were not nearly as strong as Stellar Man or Stella, but still far more powerful
than a mere woman. They were
well-armored; it would take an artillery shell to damage one. They had anti-gravity generators, laser eyes,
and x-ray projectors to simulate most of Stellar Man’s powers. Their main weaknesses were their batteries
had a limited charge which is why they kept using the Stellar Ship to fly to
Megapolis rather than come under their own power. That and the limitations of their
programs. The Minx wondered if she’d
have time to exploit either weakness.
“Just tell me where she is.
If you’re the real Stellar Girl you wouldn’t kidnap her.”
“We didn’t kidnap her!
Stellar Man explained it to me, she’s a good girl but someone twisted
her and made her bad. You! You twisted her and now she’s ruining my good
name!”
The Minx didn’t even see her move but suddenly Stellar Girl
had her in a bear hug. A bear hug as
strong as steel.
“Stellar Man said I shouldn’t hurt you but then I heard on
the radio you killed a man last night.”
“W-wasn’t me…” The
Minx said between gasps.
“So I decided to take care of this quietly.” She started walking towards the patio. “Just fly over the city and let you go. SPLAT!
Everyone will just figure one of your little ropes broke.”
The Minx could feel her ribs starting to crack. Not much time. She wiggled an arm free from its sleeve.
“Then maybe we can make a new Night Fox and make everything
the way it was!” The robot giggled
again.
The Minx knew her explosive darts were useless, she’d be
lucky if it scratched the robot’s skin.
“I remember when you were Night Fox Girl and you were a nice
girl. Maybe we can fix that too!”
She watched the robot’s mouth open and close.
“Soon everything will be back the way it- BZZT!”
The Minx fired a taser dart right into the robot’s open
mouth. As she hoped the inside was not
as well armored as the outside. It
dropped her and staggered back.
The Minx used her chance.
She ran. She jumped off the patio
and fired a line. She swung to the next
building and jumped off it, swinging again.
She changed course three times, ducking through alleyways, swinging down
side streets and finally ducking into an apartment she’d rented across
town. All the time she expected to hear
the sound of a flapping cape.
They knew where she lived!
Of course they did.
The robots had probably been watching Stella for a while. Now she couldn’t even return home or to the
Minx Pad. She felt her options grow even
shorter.
She saw a red cape fly by, but it was halfway across
town. Without Stellar Man’s speed or
stellar intelligence the robot double could not track her down. The Minx breathed a sigh of relief. For now she was safe.
But she had to do something drastic.
And soon.
***
“Beware criminals!
It’s time you learned to fear the dark!
Time you learned to fear…”
Blackout!
The darkness bomb filled the alleyway and a lithe girl
dropped from the rooftop into the midst of the Wolf Pack gangers. With a few quick punches and kicks she
scattered the blinded gangers.
Three of them stumbled out of the black cloud running for
the safety of the street lights at the end of the alleyway. But a slim blonde blocked their way.
“Afraid of the dark huh?
Well maybe I’d better turn on the lights!” A bright light flashed in front of them
blinding the three again. The blonde
finished them with some quick karate chops and kicks.
“Foolish law-breakers, didn’t your mother ever tell you
never to looking directly at a…”
Sunbeam!
The two sisters met up in the middle of the alleyway and
high-fived.
“You see? You
see? I told you we’re the perfect team!”
“OK, Dawn, you win, you were right.”
“At this rate we won’t even need the Minx!”
“Yeah…”
“Oh…”
“Y’know we can still go to the cops.”
“And tell them what?
They’ll want our names, they’ll want sworn statements. Besides if the Minx wanted us to go to them
she would tell us. I bet this is all
part of her plan.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
***
“Hello
Stella was coming out of the bathroom wearing only a
towel. “No, no, it’s OK. I mean, stars and comets, with your x-ray
eyes you could see through anything I wear.”
“No, no I would never-“
She walked to the bed and indicated he should sit down. “Please.
I want to talk.”
Stellar Man nervously sat down next to her. “
“It must be hard. It
must be hard having all of Stellar Man’s memories but knowing you’re not
him. Not really.”
“I… Yes. It is hard
but that’s who I am. I’m as close to him
as anyone can be.”
“It must also be hard having no one to talk to but those
robots. At least you have human
thoughts, they’re just pretending, they’re just toys. They’re just acting out their stupid little
scripts like a puppet.”
“I wouldn’t go that far-“
“You know Polly came to visit me. She threatened me.”
“What?”
“She said she’d burn me to ash.”
“I’ll talk to her, she shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’m scared Stellar Man.
I feel so alone.” She let the
towel slip a bit.
“Stella I-“
“You’re here for me, aren’t you?” She put her arms around his neck. She whispered in his ear. “You care for me, don’t you?” She kissed him. She let the towel fall off.
Stella had been standing around her room in a towel for
hours, waiting for the robot to return.
She sure wasn’t going to this chance slip by.
“L-Lynn, I can’t I…”
“Sssh. You’re right
you know. You’re not like those
two. You have real thoughts, real
feelings. You’re a real person. Not a toy.”
“
“And you deserve a real woman.” She unbuckled his red sash and pulled up his
shirt. Stellar Man didn’t resist. He lay on his back and let the blonde climb
on top of him, kissing his chest.
“You know, I would have done anything for Ken. Anything at all.”
“
“And I’d do anything for you. Anything at all.” Stella could feel SM1 getting hard under his
tights. All of Stellar Man’s robots were
anatomically correct, designed to stand up to the closest inspection. Even the skin felt warm and real. She shifted her body over his crotch; she
could feel the warmth through the thin fabric.
“Please Stellar Man, please show me you love me, I couldn’t stand it if
you didn’t love me.”
Without even realizing it SM1 pulled down his tights.
***
Dr. Justin Jessup walked down the corridors of Bedlam Asylum. In the last few months a new mood could be
felt in the place. Everyone was on
edge. Staff members had committed
suicide, others had resigned, quite a few were calling in sick. But Dr. Jessup seemed unconcerned. In fact he seemed happier than he had been
since his wife passed away. He whistled
as he unlocked the cell door and greeted his most famous patient.
“Hello Jester.”
The old super-criminal was in a wheelchair. His last caper had left him crippled for
life. His trademark makeup was gone; he
looked like any other old man, except for the strange smile on his face and
unnatural twinkle in his eyes.
“
“You know, you never gave me your real name.”
“Would you believe Jay Stir?”
They both laughed.
“I suppose Jester is as good a name as any. Today’s the big day you know.”
“Indeed. Indeed it is. Are you ready?”
“One minute.” The doctor opened
his bag and took out a mirror and a jar of makeup. He started painting his face white. “I really have to thank you. I mean when I took on your case I thought I
would write a paper or publish an article, I never dreamed, I never thought…”
“Heh, no one ever does. Funny
isn’t it?”
They both laughed.
“I talked Dr. Stein into it on Tuesday.
His girlfriend had just dumped him, he’d lost his grant. You were right, all it took was a few little
words on the phone and… SPLAT! Jumped
out of a twenty story window. His
patients are already finding out their doctor wasn’t as sane as they thought.”
They both laughed.
“You know Doctor it was always my favorite part of the job. Oh Night Fox and his brood, they always
thought I was just some jewel thief with a few eccentricities. Oh sure the jewels and the money were nice
but they were never the real goal. I
wonder if he ever noticed the real affects of my little capers. Probably not.
If he had he would have shoved me off the roof of Megapolis Cathedral.”
“It’s not his fault, after all there was no direct connection.” Dr. Jessup took out a jar of green hair dye
and applied it.
“Businesses ruined, divorces, despair, madness, suicide… good times doc,
good times. Like when I put LSD in the
city’s jello supply, they caught me sure, but the psych wards were filled for
months after that. Or when I hypnotized
the mayor and had him wearing a dress and dancing the can-can on TV. No one took him seriously after that. Or the government. People take a lot of things for granted doc;
they put a lot of faith in the world.
And when things stop working, well…”
They both laughed.
Dr. Jessup stood up. His face was
white now, his hair green, his lips a vivid red.
“You’ve taught me so much Jester.
Really opened my eyes.”
“I’ve taught you everything I know Dr. Jessup. All I ask is you help carry on my good
work. Help everyone see what a sick,
sick joke it all is.”
They both laughed.
“Don’t worry Jester, I will. Oh
and don’t call me Dr. Jessup. From now
on…”
He put his hands on the Jester’s head and took a deep breath. He twisted sharply and there was a SNAP!
The Jester fell from his chair dead.
“You can call me…”
“Dr. Jest!”
***
The door opened again. Stella
looked up from the old Stellar Girl comic she’d been reading.
“Hello fake Stellar Girl.”
“What do you want robot.” Stella
replied.
“Stars and comets! Are you still
saying that? I’m not a robot; I’m the
real Stellar Girl!”
Stella pointed at the ceiling.
“If you’re not a robot then how come I don’t have powers under that red
stellar radiation lamp and you do?”
The robot stopped, her face went blank.
Stella smiled and slipped towards the door, the robot hadn’t closed it,
if she could get out of this room…
“I’m the real Stellar Girl!
You’re fake!” The robot declared and
closed the door with a loud SLAM!
Stella sighed and sat down on her bad.
“What do you want?”
“Polly says you’re a big slut.
She says you slept with like, a hundred guys.”
“Heh. I wish.”
“Sex is gross. I watched two
people do it with my stellar sight. He
put his thing inside her, it was awful.”
Stella was puzzled for a minute.
Then it dawned on her. Oh no… she
did not want to have this conversation with a robot, especially a robot based
on her younger self.
“Stars and comets I bet it hurts a lot.”
“Um yeah, it can hurt; I mean if you do it wrong. But if both of you are uh…” She’d been about to say horny “in love then
it just comes together. You know. And it can be great.”
“I never want to have sex!”
“Then you’ll never know what you’re missing.”
“I saw your partner. She’s a big
slut too. I taught her a lesson.”
“The Minx! What happened? What did you do?”
“Oh she’s been killing people, so I was going to get rid of her. But she escaped. So I’ll get her later. It’s her fault you know. It’s not your fault you’re a big slut, it’s
her fault. All her fault. She tricked you.”
“Um…”
“So when I get rid of her you’ll go back to normal and be just like
me!” The robot took Stella’s hand and
smiled. “Stars and comets won’t it be
great!”
“Um, yeah. Fantastic.”
The robot put her arms around Stella and held her close. “Stars and comets, hang in there fake Stellar
Girl, you’ll be OK soon! I promise.”
Then she turned and left, leaving Stella alone.
“Stars and comets, this fucking sucks.”
***
The Minx crouched on the edge of the roof looking over the alleyways of
the
“I knew you would have to come up for air sooner or later.”
She spun in surprise. “Stellar
Man! Or should I say… SM-1.”
The robot frowned a bit at that.
“So you know.”
The Minx tapped her head.
“World’s greatest detective remember?”
“Yes. I suppose with Wes gone you
would be. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there
to say goodbye.”
“Don’t talk about him like that.
You never knew him. You’re just a
robot pretending to be
“No Minx. I’m much more than
that. After all I was based on Stellar
Man’s brain waves I am as close to… to…
BZZT!” A sharp burst of static came out
of the robot’s mouth and it fell to the roof with a loud CLANG!
The Minx smiled.
“I’ve been up on this roof half the night waiting for you. Don’t worry, the electro magnet under the roof
shouldn’t do any permanent harm to your computerized brain but it will keep you
out of action for a little while.”
“W-what do you w-want?” SM-1
said, his voice distorted like a broken record.
“Where’s my partner? Where’s
Stella?”
“C-citadel!”
“I want her back. I want her back
in Megapolis, unharmed. After that you
can do whatever you want. Pretend to be
Stellar Man; pretend to be Kennedy for all I care. But bring her back.”
“C-can n-not. N-need her.”
“Yes. You. Can.”
The Minx pointed at a hidden camera on the roof. “Or all of Megapolis get’s to see your secret
exposed on TV.”
BOOM!
The camera blew into a million pieces.
“What? How?!”
“Get away from my husband you little tramp!” The Minx looked up; Stellar Woman was
hovering above her.
“Ah, hello Polly-bot. You’re
looking well.”
“I told you to-“
“I heard you Polly-bot. But it
won’t do you any good. That camera was
tied into a closed circuit. If anything
happens to me the recording will still go out.”
“I…” Stellar Woman was confused
she looked to the prone form of Stellar Man for help.
“I-it’s OK Polly, we were just talking.”
“You were about to return my partner.”
“L-listen I’ll let her go, just give me 48 hours, just 48 hours to talk
to her, to make her understand.”
“Not good enough.”
Polly smiled, “What if I sweeten the deal?”
“With what?”
The robot became a blur; suddenly the Minx was lifted off her feet and
held in a steel grip. Another hand
gripped her head, the Minx could feel the strength in it, it could crush her
head like a grape. Red lasers stabbed
out of Polly’s eyes and melted the electromagnet. Stellar Man stood up.
“Polly let her go.”
“She knows too much. We should
get rid of her.”
“Polly… we don’t do that.”
Stellar Woman tossed the Minx to the floor. Stellar Man knelt down next to her.
“Minx listen.
The Minx just frowned at him.
“I know who framed you. I know
who’s been killing in your name.”
The Minx blinked and looked away.
“Two more days, two more days and then we’ll return Stella. And while you’re waiting you can clear your
name. You know I mean it Minx. Stellar Man never lies.”
The Minx’s mind raced. This had
been a desperate plan to begin with. All
she’d been able to do was hope she’d only run into one robot at a time. This was a much better offer than anything
she could have hoped for.
“Fine.” She said in a low voice
filled with contempt. Contempt for
them. Contempt for herself. “I want my partner back unharmed in two days
and I want a name now. Who set me up?”
The two robots smiled.
“The woman you’re looking for is…”
***
“Dr. Ashley Acker I presume?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to come back during office
hours.” The psychiatrist quipped. She had just returned to her apartment to
find the Minx waiting and pointing a diamond-tipped tranq dart at her.
“You’re not a psychiatrist.”
“The degree on the wall says something different.”
“Forged. In fact
you’re not even Ashley Acker. The real
Ashley Acker died when she was 12 years old.”
“Isn’t that around the same age Barbara Silverstone died?”
The two women glared at each other.
“Well now that we’ve established that you’re not Ashley
Acker, why don’t you tell me who you are?
Unless you really want to find out how sick these tranquilizers can make
you. The dose is intended for a grown
man, a 110 pound woman like you will be hung over for days.”
“Oh no! Is the Minx
going to strip me to my underwear and leave me hanging outside police
headquarters?”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Ashley Acker gracefully sat down opposite the Minx. The Minx’s aim never waivered. “Tsk, tsk, that would be petty of you. Surely your surrogate father figure taught
you better than that.”
“Don’t go there.
Don’t even try. Now tell me who
you work for.”
“Hmm? Who says I work
for anyone? After all don’t you believe
a woman could put together a plot like this, or do you think I need a big,
strong man telling me what to do?
Gloria, I thought you were a women’s libber!”
The Minx said nothing.
“Oh yes, I know your name, your address, and I’ve been
inside the Minx Pad. Nice place by the
way. And it was pretty easy to recover
one of your little darts. I mean you
leave them all over town. Then I just
had to follow you, and wait for a good target to present himself. And Hugo Flint really was perfect. I think you would have killed him yourself if
he’d pushed much harder. Taking you down
was even easier. That armored coat is
just dead weight against a shot like me.”
The Minx remained quiet.
A bead of sweat ran down her forehead.
“But since you asked so nicely I’ll tell you, I’m not
alone.” She leaned in close and
whispered in the Minx’s ear. The Minx’s
arm didn’t move. “You never should have
been Night Fox’s heir. You’re
incompetent. You’re weak. You’re sloppy. And to be frank you’re a slut. We’re going to take over where he left
off. And we’re going to do it right.”
A single tear leaked from the Minx’s eye. She didn’t move a muscle to bat it away.
Ashley Acker leaned away and walked behind the Minx. She took off her suit jacket and dropped it
over the Minx’s head. The heroine didn’t
move.
“You’re probably wondering why you can’t move. When I heard you waiting for me I activated a
trap. An odorless, colorless paralyzing
gas had been filling the room; I of course, took the antidote. Oh Gloria you’re far too predictable. I’ve been expecting you here for days, I
thought my little psychiatrist act at the prison gave me away. Oh well, I guess you’re not all you’re
cracked up to be.”
She draped her shirt over the Minx’s raised arm. She unzipped her skirt and hung it off of the
Minx’s hand. She pulled her indigo cape
out of her bag and attached it to her purple and indigo leotard. She strapped on her weapons belt.
She took out a syringe and held it against the Minx’s
neck. The helpless heroine couldn’t even
twitch.
“Now if I was following my orders I’d just drug you now and you’d
wake up back in our lair.”
She removed the syringe and tucked it back into her
belt.
“But I won’t.”
She opened a window and climbed halfway out
“With this open the gas will vent in a few minutes. I’ll wait for you on the roof. You’ll probably want to stretch a bit before
you face me. Ta!” She jumped out the window, after falling a
few stories she threw a rope, jerked to a halt and climbed up the wall.
It was another five minutes before the Minx could move her
arm enough to pull the jacket off her head.
“ARG!” She screamed
and fired a diamond-tipped dart at the wall.
“Taken in like an amateur!” She
took a few deep breaths. Assuming
‘Ashley’ was telling the truth, it wouldn’t be hard for the Minx to
escape. Or call Princess Patriot for help. But…
This woman was ruining her life and if she wanted to settle
things with a fair fight then that was fine with the Minx. She jumped out the window, fired a line and
ran for the roof.
***
“Oh Ken, harder, please!”
“Ugh… ugh…”
“I love you Ken!”
“I love you
The door opened. Stellar Man
twisted his head and gasped.
“Polly! I thought you were still
in Megapolis!”
Stellar Woman frowned, her eyes turned red.
***
The two women faced each other across the rooftop. The Minx’s pretty face was twisted in a
scowl, her breasts rising and falling in rage.
Her opponent seemed calm, almost bemused.
“You still haven’t given me your name.”
“No, I guess I haven’t. My
professional name is NIGHT
HUNTRESS but seeing as we’re practically family, you can just call me
Helena. Helena Adams.”
“
“I mean the great hero Night Fox had a daughter. Didn’t he ever tell you how he escaped Night
Cat’s death trap?”
“Yes… he hinted about it.”
“Well I guess you can call me a loose end.”
“Look
“Oh Gloria, nice try. But you’re
missing the point. All these years
you’ve been with Wes, learning from him, fighting crime side by side, all the
things I should have had. I want
this. I want to see who Night Fox’s real
daughter is.”
“
“It will to me!” She reached for the
crossbow at her side. The Minx raised
her arm and fired a tranq dart.
Night Huntress caught it with her hand.
The Minx didn’t have time to be impressed, Night Huntress fired her
crossbow.
The Minx raised an armored sleeve and it bounced off. The Minx dropped a smoke bomb and moved. Night Huntress fired two more times but the
Minx was already gone.
“Running away?” Night Huntress
taunted.
“Just seizing the high ground!”
The Minx called out from atop a chimney behind her. She fired another dart. Night Huntress caught that one too. “Didn’t you learn? You’re fast Gloria but I’m the daughter of-”
BOOM!
The explosive dart exploded in Night Huntress’ hand. Her armored glove saved her fingers but the
hot metal and impact sent her staggering.
The Minx landed in front of her and landed a blow to the face and a kick
to the knee.
“You’re also a show-off and you talk too much.”
“I’m also a fast learner!” Night
Huntress launched a flurry of blows at the Minx. The Sexy Sentinel’s armored coat absorbed most
of them but one caught the side of her head.
Her vision became fuzzy. She
palmed a smoke bomb from her sleeve and threw it down, then she somersaulted
away before Night Huntress could land a blow.
The smoke started to clear.
“What’s the matter
“I’ll show you slow!” Her hand
was just a blur as she drew, loaded, cocked and fired her mini crossbow. The Minx barely dodged in time. How fast was this girl?! The Minx needed room and needed time.
She threw a dazzle gem. The
diamond fired blinding light in all directions, only the Minx’s polarized
lenses spared her vision. She turned and
ran for the roof’s edge.
WHOOSH!
A pair of bolos flew through the air and pinned her arms to her
sides.
“What? How?”
“You’re not the only one with polarized lenses Gloria.”
The Minx tried to free herself from the bolos but the chord between them
just grew tighter.
Night Huntress advanced smiling.
“Going somewhere?”
The Minx scowled and wiggled out of her coat entirely, she tossed the
mink at her foe and ducked the other way.
“Gosh Gloria, you sure do love taking your clothes off.”
TWANG!
Another shot from the crossbow.
The Minx ducked but the arrowhead broke apart and dozens of needle-like
flechettes cut into her exposed skin.
She responded with her last two explosive darts. Night Huntress easily avoided them.
“Come on Gloria, enough tricks!
Let’s finish this!”
The Minx stood up straight and smiled.
“You want me, come get me.” She
gestured ‘come here’.
Night Huntress dropped her crossbow, cracked her knuckles and charged.
The Minx dropped into a fighting stance and held her ground.
Night Huntress jumped and kicked.
The Minx ducked.
Night Huntress sailed over her head and off the side of the roof.
The Minx turned and grinned. “So predictab-OOF!”
Night Huntress was holding on to the edge with her fingertips. She kicked the Minx in the face and agilely
flipped onto the rooftop.
The Minx staggered back.
Night Huntress kicked again.
The Minx stumbled. She blindly
fired tranq and taser darts, Night Huntress pulled up her cape and they
harmlessly impacted against the thick fabric.
The Minx turned to run.
Night Huntress dropped to a crouch and threw another bolo. It wrapped securely around the Minx’s
calves. The brunette fell to the
ground. She tried to fire one of her
rope lines; maybe it could pull her free in time!
“AH!” Night Huntress stomped on
her arm, shattering her weapons bracelet.
Another stomp disabled the other one.
The Minx looked up at her foe.
“Pathetic. Did Night Fox really
train you? Or did you just suck his dick
until he promised to make you his heir?”
“Fuck you!”
“Clever Gloria. Witty.” She stomped again on Gloria’s chest. Then she grabbed the winded woman by the hair
and pulled her vertical. She put one hand
on Gloria’s neck and squeezed. “You’re a
disgrace to my father. A disgrace to the
proud line of crime fighters. And I’m
proud I’m finally putting an end to your embarrassment.”
The Minx struggled, trying with both hands to pry herself loose. All she could hear was roaring in her
ears. The world went dark…
***
“Stellar Man, save me!” Stella
screamed from behind the bed.
“Polly wait!”
“Wait! Wait? Wait for what? Are you going to explain this? Is this some crazy misunderstanding?”
“Polly I-“
“Get out of the way
“Polly I can’t let you do this.
We don’t kill.”
“She does! She’s just a murdering
tramp and now she’s corrupted you!” Her
eyes blazed a third time, part of Stellar Man’s scalp and hair burned away,
exposing the metal underneath.
“Polly don’t make me do this.”
“Get out of the way Ken.”
“Polly – Shutdown Procedure
1-Alpha-1”
Nothing happened.
“Sorry SM1, that won’t work on me anymore. I deleted it from my program months ago.”
“What? How? You don’t have free will!”
“My mind might not be based on human brain waves like yours is, but it’s
just as sophisticated. Stellar Man built
us better then he knew. I’m just as
‘real’ as that lying whore behind you.”
“Polly-“
“ENOUGH!” Polly’s eyes opened wide
and the entire bed burst into flame, Stella screamed and ran behind a
table. The red beams followed her
burning a line across the wall. Stellar
Man scowled and moved.
His skin melted and fused, but his metal skeleton was unharmed. His fist connected with Polly’s head and the
delicate machinery shattered like glass.
Her body crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
Stellar Man sank down next to it cradling it. “I’m sorry Polly, I’m sorry. I’ll rebuild you, I swear. I-“
A naked Stella ran past him out of her room and into the Citadel.
“
Stella kept running, ignoring how the icy floor numbed her feet. She was finally free of the red stellar
radiation that had kept her powerless but after days out of the sun her powers
were nearly depleted.
She could hear SM1 following.
“
“
“Not far. Just to the Stellar Sun
Lamp.” Stella stepped naked under its
golden glow and felt the power rush into her.
“Lynn I-“
“Bye-bye.” Her blue eyes turned
red and SM1 burned into slag.
She hovered through the halls, glad that her invulnerability was once
more protecting her from the cold.
Polly’s body was starting to twitch as the computer in her torso took
control. Another burst of stellar vision
turned it into slag.
Her stellar hearing detected the Stellar Ship landing. She smiled.
***
“Stellar Man? Stellar Woman? Hello?
Stars and comets where are you?”
“They’re dead robot.”
Stellar Girl turned, her eyes turned green. “You!
Fake Stella! What did you-“
CRACK!
Stellar speed carried Stella forward and she poked her invulnerable
fingers into Stellar Girl’s eyes shattering both of them. “Sorry robot, no stellar radiation this
time.”
“Stars and comets I can’t see!
What did you do to me?”
Stella grinned and gave her robot doppelganger a shove. Stellar Girl fell on her butt.
“Sorry robot, but there’s only room for one of me.”
“No! Please! It’s not my fault! Mistress they made me pretend to be you!”
Stella hesitated.
“Mistress please, I’ll do anything!”
Stella’s eyes filled with tears as she heard her younger self beg.
“I just want to live!”
Stella’s eyes burned red and SG-1, the last of Stellar Man’s robots
melted to slag.
“Stars and comets, I’m sorry! I’m
so sorry.”
Stella sank into a ball and cried.
Afterword
As promised, the dark times start here!
Some readers see themes in my stories which
is really flattering to me. If there’s a
theme this issue it’s that you can’t go back.
Comics are always trying to drag characters back to where they were, ignore
years of growth and development and reset them.
I thought it would be neat to have someone try that with Stella.
Some notes, Night Huntress is a homage to the
70’s DC character ‘the Huntress’ daughter of the Golden Age Batman and
Catwoman. Night Huntress has been
kicking around for almost a year now; she spied on Wes and ultimately poisoned
him. She killed Hugo Flint and
interrogated Gloria. And now she’s
beaten Gloria in a fair fight. Next
chapter we’ll meet her mysterious boss.
Her alias Ashley Acker was a combination of
the names of the actress who played her in Birds of Prey, Ashley Scott, and the
voice actress from JLU, Amy Acker.
James Saxon and his book Slave Girls of
Rog is a tribute to John Norman and his wonderful novel Slave Girl of
Gor, which did a lot to help me through puberty.
Dr. Jest is my attempt to bridge the gap
between the campy, playing card stealing Joker of the 50s and 60s and the
mass-murdering Joker we have today.
Marcus Lycus
Next
issue: Stella is back but the Minx is missing! What will become of the Finest Heroines in
the World?
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