Stella and the Minx #29:
Enter Celestia!
Our
story so far: Stellar
Man and Night Fox were the greatest heroes of the 60s but in the 70s their
female counterparts Stella and Minx took over!
But now the Minx is
missing and Stella has been left alone to defend Megapolis. Can she do it or will she finally crack under
the pressure?
Marcus Lycus
June 2009
Issue
29 – Enter Celestia!
Stella soared above the clouds, just rejoicing at the
feeling of flight, of freedom, of power!
It was two weeks since she found Gloria, and that still made her sad,
but for the first time in her life there was no one telling her what to
do! She was a free woman! The way things were meant to be!
If she wanted to patrol the city, she could patrol. But if she wanted to watch
Money was still a worry, but the cash she’d found in that
collapsed warehouse was enough for now.
She was returning from Dr. Corvidae’s lab. He’d hit her again with that pink stellar
radiation, it was amazing! She didn’t
even mind having sex with the diminutive scientist. Heck, under that wonderful pink light she
actually kind of liked it!
Best of all Dr. Corvidae was making progress in using his
stellar radiation ray to irradiate certain minerals. If that worked she wouldn’t even need to go
to his lab any more, she could just drink some mineral solution!
Yep, for the girl of the stars things were looking pretty
good.
She landed gracefully on the penthouse patio and headed
inside, after a few hours of pink stellar radiation she really needed a shower
and a nap.
“Hello
“
She ran over and hugged Night Fox’s old kid partner.
“Listen I know we both said some things but…”
“No, no I’m sorry; I was just upset and stuff. Stars and comets, I must have sounded pretty
crazy.”
“Well I’m glad you’re feeling better but-“
“Of course it didn’t help that you were being so stuck up
and everything. I mean stars and comets when
I woman feels vulnerable you can’t just reject her like that!”
“Uh… right. Sorry.”
“But I’m glad you came back, I was kind of hoping we could,
y’know; pick up where we left off.”
“Yes…”
“Oh. I um, it’s a
little late.”
“Late?”
“I didn’t know if you’d come back! I didn’t know what to do with her! It’s not my fault!”
“
“Well I was checking on her downstairs and I knew I had to
do something with her, I could just leave her there like leftovers in a
fridge. So I flew her up to orbit and
let her burn up in the atmosphere.
Y’know, just like Wes. I figured
she would like it that way.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry.”
“I see. Well then I’d
better go back to the warehouse and see what else I can find.”
“I’ll help you!”
“Uh… no
“Oh. Yeah. I guess.”
“When I find something, I’ll be in touch, I promise.”
“OK, um, see you.”
***
Meanwhile a few thousand miles straight up…
The dark side of the moon lay silent and unchanging. Rocks and dust undisturbed in millennia lay
as they always had.
Then…
There was a burst of rainbow light, bizarre colors never
seen in nature. And a dark-clad woman
stood on the moon’s surface. But, if
there’d been anyone to see her, she would have looked fuzzy, indistinct.
“Ereh ew era? Ti taht si?”
Her hand blurred as it moved leaving after images as she
touched her wrist.
“That like red be they should, funny
look stars the hmm?”
Her fingers danced a bit.
“Synchonizer-chrono the adjust me let.”
The blurring diminished.
“There, that’s better!”
Finally there was a small burst of rainbow light and her
form became clear.
CELESTIA:
DAUGHTER
OF THE STARS
She stood tall, almost six feet, and the pinkish hue of her
skin and the dark pools of her eyes betrayed that she was not entirely
human. Blue light played around her
fingers. She wore a silver and grey
leotard decorated with strange circuit patterns. The costume covered her arms and shoulders
but left her legs bare. Silver bracelets
were locked on her wrists and a black and silver cape hung from her back. Grey thigh-high boots completed the outfit.
“OK
> We have successfully arrived on Earth’s moon in the late-20th
century. A voice emerged from her
bracelet.
“Like that’s mega-obvious.
I mean I can see the place from here!
Wow, they sure have some mega-pollution.
I can barely see Megapolis under that haze.” Her eyes were black with small blue irises,
as she watched the Earth the blue grew until it almost filled her entire
eye. She watched the Earth for a few
minutes.
> Please focus on the mission.
“Huh? Oh right,
yeah. Are we ready for him to arrive?”
Lights flashed on the bracelet. Five small disks, no larger than dimes
detached themselves and flew into the far corners of the crater.
> Preparations complete.
Our target is expected to appear here in three standard hours.
“Three hours! That’s
like mega-long! What am I supposed to do
for three hours on a lifeless rock like this?”
> I have prepared several holo-records of your last encounter
that you may review to prepare for-
“Like mega-boring! I
kicked his butt last time and I’ll kick his butt this time.”
> You must be careful; this is one of the most critical missions
you have ever undertaken a single error could result in-
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, she’s
down there isn’t she?”
> I do not know who you are referring to.
“Sure you don’t Mr. Know-it-all mega-smart computer. I mean her, Stella! She’d down there right? I bet you even know where.”
> That information is not necessary for your mission. You are not authorized to encounter her.
Celestia stopped and thought for a second. These mentor units were mega-smart but not
that hard to outwit. After all she’d
been getting around them since she was a kid.
“Say, let’s just say I fail somehow OK?”
> I would recommend reviewing the holo-records I prepared for-
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but let’s say he gets past me, well he’s going to go
after Stella right? That’s his target.”
> I estimate a 98% probability.
“So I need to know where she is in case I need to save her.”
> That information can be provided if the situation you posit in
fact occurs.
“But… what if you’re damaged? Then
I’ll be up here with no idea how to save Stella. Right?”
The machine on her wrist was silent.
“Right?”
Machines can’t sigh, but the computer managed a reasonable equivalent.
> At this time, historical records indicate that Stella is…
***
Stella flew across town. Stupid
But she knew what would make her feel better, another session with Dr. Corvidae and his pink lights!
It would be her second one today but that was
fine, she’d earned it after all putting up with stupid
She felt like her face was getting hotter,
like her whole body was getting hotter.
Her vision got fuzzy. Suddenly it
was really hard to fly, she lost altitude and fell!
Stella desperately tried to will herself to
fly but nothing happened! She felt
totally powerless! The ground was
rushing up faster and faster.
She screamed.
Then there was a blur and she was safely on a
rooftop.
“Wow!
Mega-cool, it’s you, Stella!”
“Huh?”
Stella looked at the girl who’d saved her; she
was taller than the girl of the stars.
She looked human but her skin and eyes definitely showed she wasn’t from
around here.
“Opps!
Mega-rude of me there! I’m like
Celestia.”
“You’re like Celestia? Who’s Celestia?”
“I mean, like, I am Celestia, that’s like, my
name.”
“Oh, hi.”
“You OK there?
Looked like you were having a problem flying but that’s like totally not
possible cause you’re Stella.”
“Just a little dizzy spell. That’s all.
So um, who are you? I mean, yeah,
you’re Celestia, I got that part, but where are you from, you’re not here to
fight me or anything stupid like that are you?”
“Huh?
No way, I’m like here to meet you, on my planet you’re like a legend.”
“A legend?
Me?”
“Oh yeah, like the time you and Stellar Man
fought the Space Tyrant, or the time you helped evacuate the world of Hillin
before their sun went supernova or your sacrifice during the Secret Crisis!”
The bracelet on Celestia’s wrist beeped and
her dark eyes went wide.
“The Secret Crisis?”
“I mean uh… all the times you sacrificed
during a crisis on Earth.”
“Oh, right.
So you like just came here to meet me?
That’s it? No fighting? No plan to kidnap me? Just like meet?”
“Yeah. I
know it sounds weird but like, I’ve always wanted to meet you, ever since I was
a kid.”
The bracelet beeped again, louder this time.
“Since you were a kid? But I’ve only been Stella a few years and we
look the same age, so how could you-“
“I mean uh, it feels that way. Like I wanted to meet you since I was kid,
even tough obviously I couldn’t have.”
“Um, OK.”
Celestia reached into her cape and took out a
small device with a single lens. It
floated next to her. “Hey like can we
get a holo-capture together? It’ll be
mega-awesome!”
“Holo-capture?
You mean like a photo right?
You’re not like going to capture me or turn me into a living hologram or
something?”
“Huh?
Does that like happen to you a lot?”
“Celestia, you wouldn’t believe some of the
weird stuff that happens to me.”
The camera clicked a few times. Celestia was just bubbling with energy and
smiles, Stella couldn’t help but grin a bit.
They chatted briefly, Celestia was on a mission for her father but made
time to meet her idol. Just hearing she
had fans, (fans on another planet!) cheered Stella up. Best of all, the dizzy spell faded and felt
her powers come back. But Celestia’s
bracelet kept beeping and finally the taller girl made her apologies and took
off into the sky.
“Stars and comets, how weird. I can’t wait to tell Glor… Oh.
Right.” She watched the girl
shoot off into space but she disappeared behind the moon.
“Huh. I
wonder if I’ll ever see her again. Oh
well, I’d better go see Dr. Corvidae, maybe he can explain that dizzy spell.”
The girl of the stars rose into the sky headed
once again for
A mile above her a flying saucer emerged from
the clouds.
Preoccupied with thoughts about her strange
visitor and the equally odd dizzy spell, the Girl of the Stars did not catch
the soft hum of anti-gravity engines, or the gentle hiss of an airlock opening.
But she certainly felt what came next.
BAM!
A flying brown blur struck her in mid-air
carrying her out of the city into the mountains and finally slamming her into
to a cliff side.
“ow” she muttered.
WHAM!
WHAM!
Two punches knocked her head around, she tried
to see who was hitting her but her eyes wouldn’t focus. All she could see was tan and pink. Her attacker raised his hand.
“Surprised to see me again slut of the stars? I have returned at last to claim what is
rightfully mine!”
A blue field surrounded her, Stella suddenly
felt heavy, too heavy to stand, too heavy to even kneel. She collapsed on her face.
“But I don’t know who you are.” She whispered as unconsciousness claimed her.
***
> That was extremely unwise!
You were forbidden to contact her!
“What are you talking about? She was falling, I had to save her!”
> Historical records indicate she would have landed on a truck carrying
a load of pillows and recovered her strength soon enough.
“Well I didn’t know that!”
> Fortunately we departed minutes before her next historical
appointment.
“So no harm done right? And I got a picture! Dad will flip!”
> Now we must make haste or all this will be for naught!
“I know, I know… but mentor, thanks. I know you didn’t really have to tell
me. You really don’t know what this
means to me.”
The computer was quiet for a minute. Finally…
> You are welcome Celestia.
Now you must redouble your speed back to the moon.
***
Stella came to her senses lying in some sort
of bed.
“Ooo…”
She moaned. She felt her face,
she didn’t feel any bruises. She looked
around; the room was meant for humans but filled with alien technology. She’d been kidnapped!
“Stars and comets I knew it! I knew that alien chick was setting me up for
something! She probably causes the whole
dizzy spell thing! And that
‘camera’? How did I ever fall for
that! Damnit next time I see an alien
I’m just going to-“
The door opened.
“Just going to what?”
“Huh?
Who are you?”
“Feh” he spat.
“I knew you were faithless but not so foolish. Don’t tell you have already forgotten-“
PRINCE HAKAR OF RANAR
(See issue #26 –
ed)
“Huh?
You’re that alien I helped out a couple of years ago.”
“Hmm?
Is that all you remember?” Surely
that cannot be.”
“I remember… um… you, you came to Earth, you
helped me with one of Crowe’s robots and then… um… um…” Stella rubbed her head, suddenly her head was
splitting.
Hakar watched for a minute, Stella seemed to
be telling the truth. She had no idea
who he was, and trying to remember was causing her physical pain! Feelings warred within him. His hatred of her, his anger, his love. Finally he could take no more. He ran over, held her in his arms, put his
hand under her chin and kissed her.
“Does that help you recall?”
“Starsandcomets! I… you… we… we were married! We were star-mates! And then you sent me away! And Stellar Man made me forget the whole
thing!” Sweat ran down her head as the
memories came flooding back. Making out
with him on the rings of Saturn, long days together in his ship, this
ship. Arriving on his world only to have
the marriage annulled when he learned…
“Oh right… the virgin thing. I uh, I know what happened now.”
“Do you?
Pray tell.”
“It was one of Stellar Man’s stupid
robots. One of them thought he was in
love with me and he… he tricked me. He
made me think he was Stellar Man and we… y’know. So when Stellar Man found out he made me
forget the whole thing or I would have told you.”
“A robot?
You had a liaison with a robot?”
“Um, yeah.
Actually now that I think of it I’ve kind have a couple of things with robots
what with Prince Cavinu and SM-1 and that Robomaster guy. Weird now that I stop and think about it.”
“A-ha-ha-ha!
This is wonderful! Wonderful!”
“Huh?”
“Why being with a robot does not make you
impure! Before I found you I had nightly
sessions with my Amorobots, as erm, training for the night I found you.”
“So you’re saying we’re like, still married?”
“Yes my beloved! Yes!”
***
On the surface of the moon, there was another
burst of rainbow light and another figure appeared.
Carrion!
He was a tall figure but stooped, his skin
scared and blemished by dozens of injuries.
He work a regal purple and green costume with machinery built into his
forearms and boots. He emerged from the
field of light with an air of confidence and command.
“Well slave?”
> We have arrived master.
Answered the computer on his wrist.
“Excellent, after all this time I will finally
bring an end to that insufferable wench Celestia!”
“Will you now?” The black and silver-clad woman said with a
smile.
(Note: Celestia
and Carrion communicate in airless space through a form radio-telepathy that is
far too complex to explain here! Really!
This isn’t just a cheap trick to get out of writing a silent story! -
Ed)
“What?
Celestia?”
“Wow, so witty, so observant, no wonder they
call you a genius. It wasn’t that hard
to figure out. Once I realized you were
stealing the components for a temporal shifter it was mega-easy for me to
figure out where you were going and be ready for you.”
> ‘You’ figured out?
“Quiet mentor.
So anyway if you want to get to Stella, you have to go through me!”
Carrion just smiled.
“Oh no, not that. I’ve waited a long time to finally teach you
your place. My only worry was I would
never get the chance.”
“Yeah Carrion, whatever. I’m like mega-scared you’re gonna hurt my
fists with your ugly face.”
Carrion just smiled and pushed a button on his
wrist. Celestia felt a small tickle on
her invulnerable skin.
> Warning my sensors detect <ERROR!>
The computer on Celestia’s wrist fell
silent. “
“Oh your computer can’t help you any
more. A simple electo-magnetic pulse has
scrambled its circuits.”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed, she assumed a
fighting stance.
“You see Celestia; it was I who arranged for
you to discover my scheme. I knew an
arrogant fool like you would try to pursue me alone. This way I can savor your complete defeat
before I accomplish my goal.”
“We’ll see about that!” Blue light surrounded Celestia’s wrists and
she fired a blast at her foe.
***
Stella and Hakar lay on his anti-gravity bed cuddling in post-coital
bliss. He softly kissed her shoulders.
“If only I had known… If only you
had told me…”
“Stars and comets, it’s not my fault!
It was stupid Stellar Man and his stupid stellar hypnosis. I don’t even know how many times he used it
on me! He was always going on about
things I wasn’t meant to know, it’s not my fault…” She wept quiet tears.
“There, there my bride of the stars, it is OK, now I know the truth and
we can be reunited at last, as we were meant to be, as star-mates.”
“T-thanks.” She ran her finger
through his short hair. “You changed
your look.”
“Yes. I had to.”
“Huh?”
“After discovering you were impure our marriage was annulled.”
“So?”
“On Ranar the union between star-mates is sacred; your disgrace was my
own. It is the duty of a prince to
produce an heir and since I could not, I was exiled.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“I spent some time roaming the stars, seeking solace in far-off worlds
but finally something in heart led my back here, back to you.”
“Mmm… well I’m glad it did.”
They kissed again.
They made love.
***
Carrion charged forward easily escaping Celestia’s gravity blast and
delivering a devastating punch to her surprised face and a kick to her stomach,
she was sent flying halfway across the crater.
“Surprised my dear? Shocked? You shouldn’t be. But with your mentor-unit disabled you
probably need me to explain. On a planet
your gravity-based powers can trap or even pin me, but here on a moon with a
sixth of Earth’s mass they are little more than an inconvenience.”
“Grr…”
BAM!
Celestia went flying across the crater as Carrion’s punch caught her
off-guard.
“On the other hand my own powers are just as useful here as they are on
our world. Or perhaps you already
noticed that.”
“Oof…” Celestia moaned. She sometimes forgot how strong Carrion was.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Or how fast! He’d been on her delivering punches before
she even recovered. With her
But she’d been fighting Carrion her whole life and didn’t need a
computer to tell her what to do. She
kicked out and caught him in the hip.
The lesser gravity paid off and he went flying. She followed him, this time using firing red
beams from her eyes to burn away Carrion’s wrist computer.
“Pathetic. Did you forget my
ceramic shields make my technology completely resistant to your puny powers?”
“How about your skin?” She cut
loose again, this time targeting Carrion’s head; she burned another scar on his
bald crown. “You never were as tough as
me.”
Carrion grabbed the burn and staggered back.
“POW!” Celestia’s blow caught him
across the chin and this time Carrion went flying. He hit the lunar surface and bounced three
times. Celestia flew after him, Carrion
weakly raised an arm. A green ray
stabbed out and Celestia doubled over and gasped.
“Been a while huh? I don’t
usually like to rely on stellar radiation but then again this is a special
occasion.”
Celestia staggered forward a few steps but Carrion slapped her across
the face and knocked her off her feet.
“Of course your armored costume prevents you from enjoying the full
effect.
Carrion reached down and pulled at the high-tech fabric of the black and
silver costume.
RIP!
***
Lying in the anti-gravity bed Stella began to talk.
She told Hakar about losing her parents, about gaining her powers.
She went on about the years of loneliness, forced to hide in the
orphanage without friends, without parents, to make herself unpopular so no one
would ever get too close and find out who she really was.
She smiled when she remembered the day Stellar Man showed her off to the
world. It was still the happiest day of
her life.
But her career as Stellar Girl came at price. She was on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. A disaster anywhere on Earth meant
she had to respond. She recalled days of
exhaustion, days of weariness, a life of nothing but duty.
Then she spoke, in a halting voice, of the day she’d returned to the
Citadel only to find Stellar Man coated in the blood of his lover. She never really meant to hurt him, not
really, but…
Then she remembered that happy year when she and the Minx were
partners. How they fought crime together
and became the closest of friends.
But it didn’t last. After the
Minx learned what she’d done to Stellar Man, there was a distance between the
two.
She spoke about the terrible things she had been through, forced to
serve as the stellar scullery maid of the moon witch, a prisoner in a high-tech
lab, assaulted by miniature clones of herself.
She spoke about her night with Astroman, her encounter with Cavinu, even
her experiments with Dr. Corvidae.
How it all meant nothing. With Gloria gone Stella was
completely alone. Except for him.
Hakar just listened and held her.
Once she finished her confession, Stella rested contently in Prince
Hakar’s arms. She thought about what
he’d said. What she’d remembered.
Was that the problem? For her
whole life she’d felt adrift, lost, was it because she was separated from her
destined star-mate? Maybe this was what
she was meant for. Life as Hakar’s
queen. Queen Stella the first. Maybe everything, Stellar Man… going away,
the Minx’s death, everything was destiny to bring her here. Where she belonged.
She ran her fingers through his short spiky hair. Once they were together on his world she’d
make him grow it out again. She missed
his long flowing locks.
She nuzzled closer to him. This
was bliss. This is where she was meant
to me. She closed her eyes and drifted
into a deep and contented sleep.
Hakar opened his eyes.
“Steward?”
> Yes my lord?
His computer replied.
“Sedate and scan her.”
A soothing blue ray fired from the ceiling and Stella’s content smile
turned into a vacant, slack-jawed look. Red
rays probed the naked heroine from head to toe.
> Scan complete my lord.
The results are successful.
Prepare for extraction then and start computing a course back to Ranar.
> Yes my lord. Will the
Lady Stella accompany us?
Prince Hakar thought for a minute.
He looked over the limp body of the woman the stars decreed his
destiny. He thought about the secrets
she had confessed. The lies, the
killings, the sex with men, the sex with women.
He shook his head.
If it was just the affair with the robot he could forgive it. Anyone could.
But the rest…
“The ‘Lady’ Stella will remain on Earth.
I have done my duty. I have no
further use for her.”
> Very well sir.
***
“How ironic my dear ‘Daughter of the Stars’ if I simply take the same
stellar energy that gives you your powers, and twist the wavelength ever so
slightly it poisons your blood.”
Celestia writhed on the lunar surface, her bare breasts covered with
grey dust. Her legs twitched
uncontrollably.
“It must be agonizing, even for a half-breed like yourself.”
“Yuh… yuh… too” Celestia tried to
form the words but her mouth was not working right, everything hurt, everything
was green. Nonetheless Carrion seemed to
get the message.
“Hmm, yes I supposed technically I am, but then again my father had the sense
to make me immune to such a foolish weakness.
Of course the interesting thing about stellar radiation is there are so
many things one can do with it. Green of
course poisons you. Red leaves you
powerless.” He touched a button and the
color of the ray shifted. Celestia began
to choke! “And then there’s an
interesting variation… pink.” He touched
the button again and color lightened.
Celestia felt some of her power return but…
She gasped again, a bit more precious air leaving her lungs. But she didn’t feel sick anymore, she didn’t
feel powerless. She felt…
Good.
Despite the cold of space she felt her skin grow warm. Her heart started to pound, she clenched and
unclenched her hands, longing to feel, to grasp. She felt wetness between her legs. She put a hand there, it felt good. Another rose to her breasts and clutched
them, seemingly of its own volition.
“W-what are you, duh… duh…”
Celestia’s body shook, she squeezed her eyes shut and mauled her own
breast. Her pink skin turned a darker
red.
“Do you like it? It’s an old
family recipe.” He knelt down next to
her and looked into her wild eyes.
Celestia whimpered and tired to turn away but he put a hand on her chin
and pulled her close. They kissed, his
rough and chapped lips against her wet full ones. He broke the kiss and dropped the limp girl
into the dust. He put a scarred hand on
her flat stomach. He stroked it with
uncharacteristic gentleness.
“You know dear Celestia, this how I’ve always seen you, under that perky
exterior, behind those oh-so-clever quips I always knew were nothing but a
whore.”
The girl let out a low whine.
“Perhaps I should spare you.” His
hand drifted lower, stroking the black and silver hairs between her legs. “Keep you as a breeder. What wonderful monsters our children would
be.”
Celestia’s eyes went wide with horror.
“But alas, business before pleasure, I always say.”
Carrion shoved the weakened heroine and she collapsed in a heap. Grey dust swirled around her. He detached a button from his glove and
placed it next to the sweating, writhing girl.
Green light replaced the pink making her wince in pain.
“Slave, active a hologram so our little plaything her can see my final
victory. Perhaps you’ll see Stella die
before you disappear from existence.”
“Th-that’s it? Th-that’s your
plan?”
“Indeed. Elegant in its
simplicity don’t you think? But then
again genius always did run in side of the family.”
> Hologram activated master.
An image appeared in front of Celestia’s eyes, she squinted, trying to
focus on it. It was a blond woman, lying
in a bed.
***
Stella awoke in her own bed in the penthouse.
“Hakar?! Hakar where
are you?”
The room was empty.
Her stellar sight showed the penthouse was empty, so were the skies
above Megapolis. She even looked into
space and on the moon. There was no sign
of him or his ship.
“Hakar? Hakar where
are you? Hakar! You promised you take me with you!”
Her mind raced; maybe there was an emergency back on his
home world. Maybe he was attacked and
had to lead them away from Earth. Maybe…
Maybe he was lying all along and he left her here on Earth.
The Stellar Ship was still back at the Citadel of
Isolation. She was pretty sure she could
find Ranar on a star chart. Go after
him. Make him…
No.
He’d left her, without a not, without a goodbye. She couldn’t chase him. She wouldn’t.
She was the girl of the stars damnit.
She had her pride.
***
“WHAT!” Carrion
roared. “This cannot be! How can he have already finished? Slave!
Did you bring me to the correct temporal coordinates?”
> Computing master. Arrival coordinates correct.
“Then I should still have hours to complete my mission! Defeating this whore could not have taken
more than a few minutes!”
> Elapsed time, 6.3 hours master.
“Cuh… confused?”
Celestia gasped at his feet.
“YOU!” Carrion
shouted! “What did you do?!” He pulled her up by the hair, ready to
strangle whatever life remained in the girl.
“No matter! I’ll kill you now
then chase down that fool Prince Hakar and finish the mission that way! Any last words?”
Celestica smiled weakly and muttered one word.
“Reboot.”
> Mentor system back on-line.
Restoring costume now.
A burst of blue energy send Carrion flying backwards. The tattered remains of Celestia’s black and
silver costume flowed like water and covered her again. Carrion backed up several steps; he hit
buttons on his gloves, more green lights shot out.
> Increasing shielding 30%.
“Thank you mentor.
Sorry Carrion, those rays just tickle now.”
“But… but…”
WHAM!
Carrion went flying across the crater landing in the
side. A slight flash of silver caught
his attention; there was some sort of device on the crater rim. He focused his dark eyes on it.
“Temporal Destablizers!”
He cried.
“Yup. We set them up
before you arrived. What felt like 10
minutes to you was actually hours. You
should have checked the chronal field when you arrived. You were beaten before you threw the first
punch. I just had to keep you busy.”
“You, you whore! I’ll
kill you! I’ll-“ Carrion charged the slim girl.
WHAM!
A punch to the jaw put him out.
“And that’s that.”
> Well done Celestia.
“I still don’t see why I couldn’t just beat him up to begin
with.”
> As you know we had to be sure of the extent of his plan. Although Stella was the most logical target
there were many other opportunities he may have taken. Giving him the opportunity to gloat seemed
the best way to accomplish this.
“Well next time let’s find another way. Did you hear him? He was all like mega-creepy. I can’t believe he ripped my top off
too. I mean… yuk.”
> Perhaps if you had spent your time reviewing the holo-records
you might have found a better way.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OK. Let’s secure him and head
home.” She hit a button on her bracelet
and Carrion was surrounded by a stasis field.
> Temporal gateway opening in one minute.
Celestia looked up at the Earth. A tear froze on her cheek.
“Goodbye.” She
whispered.
Then she vanished in a burst of rainbow light.
***
Millions of miles away Prince Hakar studied the hologram of
his girl of the stars. Even now it
stirred strange feelings in him. But he
knew this was the end. How could he
bring her back to court with what he knew about her? He’d done his duty and that was all.
In the container behind him a precious fertilized egg sat in
a stasis field. The extraction was
painless and unnoticeable. He had his
heir.
He looked at the hologram again, at her beautiful face and
pale blue eyes. His beloved, his
star-mate.
He snarled and crushed it in his hand.
He got up and headed for the bridge, he had a lot to do if
he was going to reclaim his throne.
***
There was a burst of rainbow light and once again the
tranquility of the moon was disturbed by the arrival of a black and silver-clad
figure. In one hand she dragged the
unconscious form of Carrion by his ragged cape.
> We have successfully arrived in the year 2009. My sensors detect that, despite our
near-miss, the timeline is intact.
“Well mega-d’uh. I
mean if it wasn’t I wouldn’t even exist any more!”
She flew over the crater top to her waiting ship and loaded
Carrion into a stasis cell. “That will
hold him until we get back to Ranar.
Maybe this time the Ministry of Harmony can hold on to him a bit
longer.”
> I’m sure they will try their best.
The trip back to Ranar was uneventful. Despite her mentor unit’s nagging that she
should review the holo-records of her battle, Celestia spent much of the time
in her quarters, often spending hours looking at the holo-image of her and
Stella.
Sometime she would smile and blow it a kiss.
Finally they landed on Ranar and Celestia entered the royal
palace. Courtiers bowed as she walked
by, footmen opened tall electro-plated doors.
Her boots clicked down the asteroid-marble floors. Until finally she arrived at the heart of the
palace. She kneeled and lowered her
head.
“Leave us.” A voice
commanded. Dozens of aides, nobles and
servants filed out of the throne room.
“Arise and report Princess Celestia.”
“Yes Father.”
Celestia rose to her feet and looked up at King Hakar.
“As I suspected, Carrion traveled back in time the year
1972, hoping to confront Stella and um, prevent my, uh…”
“Prevent your conception.”
“Yes.”
“It was a tough fight but I finally overcame him. He’s being taken to the Ministry of Harmony
now.”
“Excellent. I never
doubted for a second you would succeed.
Tell me; was there any problems, any potential alterations to the
timeline?”
Celestia’s pink skin turned a bit whiter. “Carrion never made it to Earth father. I made sure of that.”
“And…”
“Father?”
“Celestia, please don’t lie to your father. Don’t make me check the mentor’s records.”
“Oh that…”
“Yes that.”
“It was only for a few minutes… and she didn’t know! She doesn’t even know who I am! I just wanted to… just a few minutes.”
King Hakar smiled and came off his throne, he held his
daughter in his arms.
“I know my dearest. I
know. Many times over the last few
decades I too have wish I could see her one more time.”
“So it’s OK?”
“Yes. Tell me, how
was she?”
“How was she? She was
mega-cool! She was totally humble and
sweet and mega-beautiful!”
“I’m glad you finally met her. She truly was a treasure. It’s hard to believe isn’t it, that she not
only sired you but also your half-brother.”
“I know, mega-weird huh?
That reminds me, we need to boost his hypno-treatment, during the fight
he hit me with pink stellar radiation and was acting all mega-creepy!”
“Don’t worry Celestia, I’ve spoken to the Ministry of
Harmony, your half-brother Carrion Crowe will not bother you again.
Afterword
I tried to play fair with this
story, dropping hints as I went along about who Celestia really is, who Carrion
is and what his plan was. Hopefully no
one figured it out too soon and ruined the twist but most figured it out before
the ending when I spelled it out. Let me
know how I did.
Anyway some people STILL think
the Minx is coming back. Well now that
her body is a cloud of ash in the upper atmosphere I hope that’s the last I
hear about her.
Really!
Anyway I’d planned this story
for a while, and if/when I finish with Stella and the Minx I might tell some of
the present-day adventures of Celestia and Carrion Crowe.
As always tell me what you think
and be sure to come back for…
Next Issue: It’s
a new chapter for the Girl of the Stars!
Dr. Corvidae perfects his formula, Stella can now turn off her powers
whenever she wants to! Now that she has
everything she ever wanted Stella’s life is sure to be better right?
Right?
Tune in for issue #30,
Catch a Falling Star!
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER