Stella and the Minx #31:
Star Dust
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 has been missing for months
and after a crushing defeat by her arch-enemy Claudius Crowe, Stella is
realizing that parties and anonymous sex are a lot more fun than fighting
crime!
Will our Girl of the Stars wake up in time?
Find out in this issue!
Marcus Lycus
August 2009
Issue 31 – Star Dust
Stella arranged
her costume, making sure her belt was fastened, her loose blue top was tucked
in and her cape was straight. She
checked herself in the mirror, she looked fine.
She nodded and
faced the camera.
Drake Warlock,
the famous pop artist nodded and signaled the cameraman to start.
Stella smiled.
“Um, hi.” She waved weakly to the camera lens. “I’m um, I’m Stella. You know.”
She made air quotes “the ‘girl of the stars’ the uh, ‘maiden of majesty’
and all that. Now I know a lot of you
have been um, saying things about me lately.
Bad things. But like no one
really understands me. You can’t! I mean like, you know how a doctor is on call
24 hours a day and even if like he’s having dinner or watching TV or sleeping
if a patient calls he has to go to the hospital.”
She wiped a
tear from one of her pale blue eyes and looked right into the lens.
“Well that’s
what it’s like being me except that like imagine you’re the only doctor for the
whole city, or the whole country and that you can never take a vacation, or
have someone else cover you or anything!
And… and… you don’t even know if there’ll ever be another doctor,
ever! So when Stellar Man d… when
Stellar Man went away it was just me, and it’s still just me, and who knows
maybe 10 years from now it will still be just me! Just…”
She wiped her
eyes on her sleeve and sniffled loudly.
“… So like, I
know that maybe I could do more but… I try; I really, really try OK? And I’m sorry. I want to be like Stellar Man but I… I’ll try harder, I… I promise, OK?”
She sobbed a
few times but her expression turned hard and she pointed an accusing finger at
the camera.
“But… but…
y’know maybe if like, I’m not your idea of a perfect heroine, maybe you’re the
one with the problem OK? Maybe it’s
about time you people did something about the world instead of just waiting for
me! Have you thought about that? I mean the rest of you, you got to pick your
job, you got to go to school and decide what you wanted to do with your life
but I didn’t! I didn’t ask for these
powers! I didn’t ask for my parents to
die! I just wanted a normal life but it
was God-damned Stellar Man who decided I had to be a heroine, damned lying
Stellar Man… I just… I just can’t keep doing this… I just want to… I… Oh stars and comets! Can you cut now, please?”
The camera
turned off and Drake rushed forward to hold the weeping heroine.
“Oh stars and
comets, I’m sorry, I just can’t I mean…”
“Hush now
Stella, it’s OK. You did fine. In fact we will send the video tape to the TV
stations today.”
“What? No you can’t!
I mean I’m crying, they’ll all laugh at me and… and…”
Fresh tears
fell from her eyes. Drake offered a
handkerchief to dry them.
“No, no my dear
don’t you see, your tears are an affirmation of the truth of your words. While some neanderthals and troglodytes may
snicker the sophisticates of this fair city will hear your words and
understand.”
“R-really?”
“Oh yes, my
dearest, when I suggested we film this statement I knew it would be powerful
but I had no idea how! Now you can
finally tell your side of the story!”
“But… but
Crowe, he robbed three banks and I didn’t even… I mean I was afraid to…”
“Ssh! My dearest, everyone knows that banks are
just tools for the establishment to control us.
No one cares if they are robbed.”
“Oh, OK I
guess.”
“Now I know how
to cheer you up.” Drake reached into his
jacket and took out a small vial of glowing pink liquid. He shook it in front of Stella. She smiled and grabbed it from his hand. She downed it in one gulp.
She felt the effects
right away.
The irritating
buzz of the city around her faded away, the terrible weight on her shoulders
lifted, her heart sped up, her skin grew flushed, a smile appeared on her face.
One of Drake’s
hanger-ons, some sort of body builder put his hand on her shoulder. Stella undid her belt and pulled down her hot
pants…
***
It had been a
week since Dr. Corvidae perfected his stellar radiation serum.
Claudius Crowe
had robbed 3 banks during that week.
Never taking more than a few thousand dollars but each time he made the
city feel a bit more powerless.
Stella just
gave up trying to stop Crowe. In fact
the Girl of the Stars had not been on patrol once, the city of
And on the
stairs outside…
“This the
place?” The thug asked pointing to the
sign that said ‘Physics Lab – Dr. Corvidae’.
The other thug dug a scrap of paper out of his pocket and compared it to
the sign. ‘C-O-R-V-I-D-A-E’ he
mouthed. He nodded.
“This is it.”
“How come the
boss wants us to hit this joint anyway?”
“You know how
Stella ain’t been out for a week?”
“Yeah, I heard
it was cause that Crowe guy kicked her ass.”
“Well word on
the street is this doc did something to her powers, took them away or
something.”
“Yeah so?”
“So, think
about it. You know them two hero chicks
Boss Bruno got in the basement?”
“Yeah.”
“If this egghead
can take away Stella’s powers then…”
“Then we could
have Stella locked up in the basement!”
The two thugs
grinned and nodded. The moved down the
hall and kicked in the door.
“Ack! Whose are you?”
“Shaddup
doc! We’re here for your gizmo; we wanna
take away Stella’s powers!”
Dr. Corvidae
snickered. “Oh is that all?”
“Yeah, so where
is it?”
“Oh don’t worry
I’ll get it for you.” He clapped his
hands and yelled “Einstein!
“Who are
dey? Your cats?” The thug said, the other laughed.
“Heh. No.
Not quite.”
Steel arms
grabbed the thugs from behind as two robots stepped from their lead-lined
compartments.
“Hey!”
“I must say, I
truly expected your kind would find me earlier, after all our young Girl of the
Stars has not exactly been subtle about coming here or circumspect when talking
about her new amusements. But no matter
you are here and I will deal with you now.”
Corvidae reached into his desk and took out an advanced ray gun.
“Hey, now wait
a minute doc, we didn’t mean nothing, just let us go, you don’t have to kill
us!”
“Kill you,
no. Killing you would just bring more
visitors to my doorstep, and after all the trouble I went through to create
this identity I hardly want that.” He
raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
Colored lights danced in the thugs’ eyes.
***
“So uh, that’s
how it is Boss Bruno, we roughed him up and he confessed. Turns out Stella’s having trouble with her
powers and he’s been telling her he can help but really he can’t do shit.”
Boss Bruno
grunted and nodded. “Damn shame. We’d love to see another heroine in here, huh
sweetie?”
He put his
hands in Sunbeam’s hair. The captive
heroine was on her knees between his legs lovingly sucking his dick. Her gloved hand was between her legs fingering
herself through the thin spandex of her costume. It was how Boss Bruno liked her. And Sunbeam had learned to give Boss Bruno
what he liked. Or she got hurt. He gently pulled her head back from his
throbbing dick. The member twitched and
fired a stream of sticky white cum across her face, neck and breasts. Somehow Sunbeam choked back the tears and
forced herself to look up at him and smile.
“I-I love you
Boss Bruno” she said, just like she’d been trained. The scary thing was, after months as his
captive, she was starting to mean it.
He ruffled her
hair. “I know sweetie, I know.”
***
Stella crawled
back to consciousness. She was on one of
Drake’s waterbeds somewhere in the depths of the Warehouse. Her whole body ached and her head felt stuffed
with cotton. It was always like this
with that pink serum. First came the
rush of euphoria and pleasure, then the pleasure became a need and hunger, and
then finally a crash and Stella would collapse wearily into a deep sleep. Finally her powers would return and
everything would be back to normal.
Except that
lately the euphoria was getting shorter and shorter and her powers were taking
longer and longer to return. It was so
stupid! The idiot Corvidae probably made
a mistake in the last batch.
Didn’t he know
how important this was!
Stella would
have words with him next time she saw the runt.
She climbed to
her feet and pulled her cape around her nude body. Her costume was on the floor somewhere, she’d
find it later. It was weird. All the guys wanted her to keep the cape
on. And the slippers. They loved her ballet slippers. She smiled.
Gloria said they were silly but Stella had insisted on them. “Looks like
I was right Gloria” she muttered.
But right now
she needed a hot shower and then as soon as her powers came back she’d head
home for a long rest.
She reached for
the doorknob and missed. Her eyes
weren’t focusing right. She tried again
but it opened before she could grab it.
There was a tall fit woman on the other side. She had pale skin, close-cut dark hair and
the body of a swimmer or a runner. She
smiled at Stella. The blonde noticed she
had the most unusual violet eyes. She
was wearing a purple silk robe; the color matched her eyes perfectly.
“Hello
Stella. I am called Gayle Dixon. I have been searching for you for a long
time.”
“Well um, you
found me!” Stella quipped. She tried to go around this imposing woman
but Gayle blocked her and instead took her hand. “Come let us sit together for a while.”
“Um, OK.”
Stella tried to
keep her cape close to her body. It was
funny she’d had sex with 3 or 4 guys in this room but somehow she felt shy
letting this woman see her naked.
Strange how the mind works sometimes.
As this strange woman led her back to the waterbed Stella noted that
Gayle wasn’t wearing anything under her robe except for a pair of brief purple
panties. Stella had to giggle, here she
was feeling shy and this girl was wearing about as much clothing!
They sat down;
Gayle put one arm around Stella’s shoulders, the other on her bare knee. The blonde squirmed a bit.
“So um, you
were looking for me?”
“Searching. For a very long time.”
“Well um, I was
here!”
“You have a
very special aura.”
“Aura? You mean like from my powers?”
“It is very
powerful, and very rare.”
“Well I hope
so, I mean stars and comets, it sure would be strange if there were a whole lot
of girls flying around in hot pants!”
“Drake told me
all about your powers. How terrible it
must be, you must always give and give and can never get anything in return.”
“Well um, I
guess that comes with being a heroine right?”
“We women must
always give. Men take from us, use us
for their pleasures, but they can never satisfy us, never give anything in
return.”
“Um…”
Whatever reply
Stella was formulating was cut off as Gayle leaned in and kissed the Girl of
the Stars in her unresisting lips.
Stella felt some odd stirrings in her belly. Was the drug kicking in again?
She could feel
Gayle’s hand on her breasts, touching them through the cloth of her cape.
Stella broke
off the kiss and pulled away.
“I… look, I’m
sorry I know what you um, are, but I’m um, I’m not one of um, those.”
Gayle just
looked at her with a coy smile.
“N-not that
there’s anything wrong with being one of those, it’s just, I uh, I like
men. OK?”
Gayle put a
gentle hand on Stella’s chin and smiled.
“Oh Stella, it’s OK. I like men
too. But some things, they need a
woman’s touch.” Stella’s cape had fallen
open. Gayle gently stroked Stella’s
nipple. The blonde bit her lip, stars
and comets, that actually felt good.
“I’ve seen how the men here use you, how they pound you like a sack of
potatoes. And I know you need more.”
She leaned in for
another kiss, Stella pulled away again.
Though not as far this time.
“I…”
Gayle looked
into Stella’s big pale blue eyes. “This
isn’t the first time you’ve done this. I
can see that in your aura.”
Stella
blushed. “Stupid aura, giving away all
of a girl’s secrets…” She muttered. Memories flooded back, Stella dressed in a
ragged blue dress, captive of the ‘Moon Witch’ serving her in the house. And in the bedroom. She remembered those frustrating nights,
kissing Lorelei’s gorgeous body, feeling it writhe under her but getting
nothing in return. Not a kiss, not a
touch, not even a kind word. She
remembered moaning in frustration, begging, and getting nothing.
But how could
she explain that to this woman?
“Look, it’s
kind of complicated…“
Gayle raised a
slender finger to Stella’s lips. “Sssh…
just lie back my Girl of the Stars, lie back and I will take care of
everything.”
She gently
pushed Stella back onto the silk sheets; Stella’s red cape flapped open leaving
her slim pale body exposed to Gayle’s violet eyes. Gayle chuckled and ran her finger through
Stella’s untamed patch of blonde hair.
“I uh… there’s
um, no way to trim it. Y’know. Invulnerable.”
Gayle chuckled
dryly and ran her fingers lower, stroking Stella’s sensitive inner thighs. The blonde moaned. She ran one delicate finger along Stella’s
pink slit, the girl gasped at the sensation.
Another hand
rose to Stella’s breasts lightly touching them with the tips of her
fingernails. Stella arched her back and
squeezed her eyes shut. “S-stars and
comets… that feels so…”
A finger
slipped inside.
“Ahhhh!” Stella cried out, her body twisted left and
right. She raised an arm to her mouth to
cover it but Gayle’s firm hand stopped it.
“Shh, you’re
much too shy. I want to hear you; I want
to know you’re enjoying it.”
She slipped a
finger in and out quickly, letting the juices flow.
“Oh, oh,
please, stars and comets, I…” Stella
looked away, blushing. But now Gayle’s
firm fingers were on her chin turning her head back which the other hand gently
rubbed her clit feeling it grow warm and full.
“Shh, just
enjoy it. Stop being afraid.”
“But… but… I…
OHSTARSANDCOMETS!”
Gayle moved
down between Stella’s long legs and applied her tongue to the writhing girl’s
sweet spot.
Stella
shrieked, she cried, she moaned, she begged Gayle to stop, she begged her to
keep going, she begged her never to stop, and finally she let out a long
content sigh and went limp.
Gayle just held
the blissful girl in her strong arms stroking her hair and whispering in her
ear.
“Sleep my Girl
of the Stars, sleep and when you awaken everything will be different.”
Stella woke
hours later with buzzing in her ears. It
was a sound no one else on Earth could hear but one she knew all too well. It was the sound of Megapolis. Five million people talking, working, eating,
sleeping, making love. All filling her
ears at once.
Stella’s powers
were returning.
She tuned it
out and got out of bed. Gayle was gone
but that wasn’t a surprise. No one ever
stuck around. They took what they wanted
from her and they moved on.
But still… That
had certainly been something.
She found her
costume on the floor and pulled it on.
She checked the pouch in her cape, nothing. She’d used up the last of Doctor Corvidae’s
serum. Darn. That was supposed to last another week.
She headed
upstairs for the roof. Maybe the doc had
made some more by now.
***
From the roof
of the warehouse Gayle watched the Girl of the Stars fly off. Drake Warlock joined her.
“Well?”
Gayle
smiled. “She’s such a lonely girl,
desperate for love, for attention.”
“I assume that
means yes.”
Gayle closed
her eyes and let the purple robe drop from her shoulders exposing her athletic
body. She took several deep breaths;
Drake watched her breasts rise and fall.
Then her entire body began to glow faintly and rise into the air, she
opened her eyes, they were glowing with purple light.
Drake smiled.
***
“W-what do you
mean no more?!”
“Ack! The chemicals ist very, very pricey. The school, ist no money. No money, no chemicals, no chemicals, no
serum.”
“But… but… I
can talk to the school president; he’ll pay once he knows it’s for me right?”
“I haff no
idea.”
***
“I’m sorry Ms. Stella, there’s nothing we can do.”
“But, but…”
“When Dr. Corvidae defected from behind the Iron Curtain we hired him
despite his erm, idiosyncrasies his work was clearly brilliant.”
“Yes! Stars and comets! He’s a genius! So what’s the problem?”
“Well Ms. Stella he hasn’t published any of his research in over a
year. He says it’s a secret. Universities exist to share information
between teachers and students, between professors and with the world. We are not here for ‘mad scientists’ to work
alone in their labs.”
“But, but…”
“Perhaps if you could tell us what exactly he’s doing…”
“He um… I um… I’m having trouble
with my powers. I’ve had trouble for a
while now” Stella added. After all that
was true, her whole life her powers gave her nothing but trouble. “Dr. Corvidae is helping me with them.”
“I see.”
“But he can’t tell anyone because then my enemies would strike at him to
use his research against me.”
“Well then there’s nothing we can do.”
“But, but… I saved this university a dozen times! I saved this city! I saved this planet! Can’t you just find some money so he can-“
“I’m sorry Stella but the Board of Trusties would never allow it.”
“But…”
***
Warren Herbert wiped his brow and took a sip from his canteen. The hot Puerto Rican sun was baking him. He’d been hiding on this hill watching the
hacienda for days now. The windows were
blocked; the only people who went in or out were delivery boys and guards. But the hacienda’s rent and expenses were
being paid through a shell company controlled by Zola Zenith. It wasn’t much but it was his only lead
towards finding out what happened to Gloria.
Security was tight but he’d identified several weak points and was ready
to try and enter tonight.
He heard a car and ducked behind some bushes, it wouldn’t do to be
spotted now!
But glancing up at the convertible he realized he recognized the driver!
“Fernando?” He called out. The car jerked to a halt. “Fernando it is you! What are you doing here?”
“I, um, well Master Warren, this is a surprise.”
“But why are you- Oh of course!
You must have put together the same clues I did about Zola!”
“What, oh, why yes, yes I did.
Quite strange, I fear she may know something about Mistress Gloria’s
erm, disappearance.”
“It’s worse than that. Gloria’s
dead. Stella and I found her in the
ruins of a warehouse Zola owned.”
“Oh dear.”
“I’m planning on going in there tonight, let’s go in together.”
“Ah, yes, an excellent plan, come you must tell me everything you have
found.”
***
Stella flew home, her mind racing.
Money! It always came back to
money! Sure she could crush coal into
diamonds but without the Minx’s help she couldn’t sell them. Sure she could find some sunken treasure but
without the Minx’s help she didn’t know where to look!
And it’s not like her teaching assistant job paid that much, even when
she bothered to show up.
There was the money she and Warren found in that warehouse but once that
was gone…
“Stars and comets! I saved the
world a dozen times, they owe me!” She
flew up higher over the city, looking down on all of it at once. “You hear me Megapolis! You OWE me, YOU owe ME!” She shouted.
But the city didn’t answer.
She didn’t know what to do next.
Maybe go to the mayor? But he
hated her; he’d never give her money.
So what did that leave?
If only Gloria was here!
“Stupid Minx, why did you have to go and di-“
Then she heard it. Something on
the police band preying on the edge of her consciousness.
“These Wolf Pack kids say they were beaten up by the Minx.”
“Huh?”
Stella tuned her stellar hearing in.
“I repeat, these Wolf Pack kids say the Minx beat them up. This is what, the third sighting this week? I guess our little lady friend is back in
town. We’d better put out an APB on
her.”
“T-the Minx? Stars and comets,
that’s impossible!”
***
Dr. Corvidae’s car pulled up to the mountain cabin and he stepped
inside.
He popped a pill, endured minutes of intense agony as his skin and bones
shifted shape, and then Claudius Crowe arose.
He opened a hidden passage and descended into his lab.
“Father!” Calvin Crowe cried out
and ran to embrace the criminal genius.
A robot walked in behind him.
Crowe cuffed the small child. “
“Yes father, I’m sorry father. I
shall try harder father.”
“See that you do. You are a
Crowe, never forget that. Now come I
have work to do and you may watch. This
will be most instructive.”
The two walked through a thick door into a heavily shielded lab. In the center a tiny figure floated in clear
fluid. Crowe walked up to a computer and
checked the tickertape coming out of it.
He nodded.
“I see your brother is developing nicely.”
“Yes father. When will you let
him out?”
“Oh not for a while. Give his
hybrid nature accelerated growth might damage him. So not for another decade I think.”
“10 years?”
Crowe scowled at his son.
“I apologize for my outburst father.”
Crowe nodded. “Yes, by then the
skull should be large enough.”
“Large enough for what father?”
“My brain of course. Surely you
didn’t think I would entrust the power of Stellar Man to some simpleton
offspring?”
Young Calvin choked back a tear.
“N-no father, of course not father.”
***
The night was cool with a soft breeze coming off the sea, two dark-clad
men slipped over the hacienda fence and into the garden. One silently picked the lock on the kitchen
door while the other stood watch. Then
they both entered the dark room.
“OK Fernando, you check the study and I’ll what I can find in the
basement.”
Then the lights went on, momentarily blinding the two. A dozen men with clubs rushed in.
“Well, well Warren Herbert. Long
time no see.”
“Zola!”
Zola Zenith had entered the room, limping on a cane.
“I guess you’re here looking for your little sex doll Gloria. I’m sorry but that pretty young thing isn’t
here, you’ll just have to put up with an aging relic like me.”
Herbert looked around and palmed a smoke bomb in his pocket. He was over 40 and his ‘Ferret the Wonder
Boy’ days were long over but he could still handle a couple of rented
thugs. Especially with Fernando to cover
his back, the Mexican butler might seem like a refined gentleman but he wasn’t
soft. Out of the corner of his eye he
spotted Fernando taking out a blackjack.
“Gloria’s dead Zola. I want to
know what you did.” He confidently
demanded. “You know these guards can’t
stop us if we-OOF!”
Something hit
“I am sorry Master Warren but I’m afraid I cannot allow that.”
“But-“
A club hit
***
Stella leaned over the railing of her penthouse looking over the
city. She should go on patrol she kept
telling herself. Show them how much they
needed her. But what was the point. They didn’t care. If they cared she couldn’t be in this fix.
“Hi Stella, how’s it going?”
“Oh it’s you Princess Perfect. I
should have heard those buzzing little wings on your sandals. Didn’t I tell you how annoying they are?”
Princess Patriot landed next to the Girl of the Stars. “Yeah, you did. How’s it going? Feeling any better after that fight?”
Stella took a good look at Princess Patriot’s face, she could see her
eye was still a bit swollen, there was still a bruise near her lip.
“I’m sorry.” She said in a small
voice.
“Sorry? Sweet liberty! I’m the one who should apologize to you! I mean maybe if I’d been faster, if I’d
managed to slow down Crowe then you wouldn’t have been, um, you know.”
“Humiliated? Crushed? Sent packing?
Maybe everyone wouldn’t be calling me a failure.”
“Stella no one’s saying that-“
“You don’t have stellar hearing.
Everyone’s saying that.”
“OK, fine, so some people are saying that. But they don’t mean it; once you beat Crowe
they’ll change their tune.”
“Yeah well what if I don’t feel like stopping Crowe? What if I’m sick of the whole thing?”
“We all have bad days Stella-“
“You don’t. You’re Princess
Perfect.”
Princess Patriot let out a sigh.
“I do too Stella, everyone does.
But we can’t just quit every time things get rough.”
“Can’t we?”
“I saw your video; they showed it on channel 8. You’re not alone you know. You’re not the only superhero. I can help, Astroman, Armor Man…”
“So you’re saying you don’t need me.
That I can quit?”
“You don’t want to quit Stella, I know you, you’re not the kind of
person who can let bad things happen and do nothing.”
“Maybe I am… and maybe I’m not.”
Stella said with a sigh.
The two heroines stood for a while watching the city.
“So… any word from the Minx?”
Princess Patriot asked, trying to change the subject.
“No. Ferret’s out looking for her
but he hasn’t been in touch. I bet he’s
not even really looking. He’s probably
off on some tropical island laughing at me.”
***
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
The sound never ended.
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
It was bothering him, disturbing his rest.
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
Warren Herbert awoke on the floor.
He was stripped to his underwear and a metal cuff was wrapped around his
ankle. His entire body ached. He could feel bruises forming from his
beating. A heavy chain led to the
wall. He was in a small cell, the only
light came from a doorway ahead of him.
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
A man was there, slowly bricking up the doorway.
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
He scraped the cement out of a pan, applied it with a trowel and plopped
each brick in its place.
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
The wall got higher.
“Wait! What’s going on! What are you doing!”
“Oh hello
“Zola, what’s going on? Why are
you doing this?”
“Why? You dare to ask why?”
“You were one of us! You were
Night Fox Lady! Why did you kill Gloria,
why are you locking me up?”
“Oh I was one of you? Is that
what you think now? No more ‘Holy bimbo
Night Fox! Why doesn’t she just give up’?
You’ve had a change of heart?”
“It… it wasn’t like that.”
“Wasn’t it? Did you ever think of
me as anything but another bimbo, another notch for Night Fox’s bedpost? Another woman to use and throw away? Just like you did with that slut Gloria? Well I put her in her place, showed everyone
that she was just another of your whores.”
“Zola what did you do? Did you
kill her?”
“Me? No, I didn’t kill her, she’s
the one who did it, first she turned
“Zola, what about me, you can’t just keep me in here!”
“Can’t I? Fernando told me all
about it. No one knows you’re here, not
even Stella. No one’s going to come
looking for you. Why can’t I lock you
up?”
SKRRAP-SWOOSH-PLOP!
Another layer of bricks was done.
“I know you’ll get out of that cuff eventually, even without your
utility belt. You’d probably even get
out of any cell I come up with. But even
Ferret the Wonder Boy can’t trick his way through a brick wall.”
“So you’re leaving me to starve?”
“Nonsense Ferret. The cell you’re
in has a small shaft leading up the kitchen.
The cooks know to throw any scraps down it. There should be enough to live on. Of course you’ll have to get them before the
rats do.”
“Zola please!”
“Sorry Ferret, you had your chance ten years ago. It’s much, much too late now.”
With that she turned and left.
Ferret watched the light slowly disappear.
***
It was the dead of night; the bank was empty, closed. A black-clad figure dropped from the ceiling
landing lightly on her feet. She walked
around the teller’s counter and up to the massive vault door. It was a foot thick and guarded by the most
advanced locks and alarms. The bank had
already been forced to replace it after Crowe’s robbery and they’d made sure
the new door was as close to impenetrable as they could.
The new intruder tore it apart like tissue paper.
She emerged with several sacks of cash in each hand and leapt up
disappearing through the hole she’d used to enter.
The tape stopped.
“Well?” Detective Mulligan asked.
“Sweet liberty! Some sort of new
super-criminal?” Princess Patriot
exclaimed.
“Um… yeah, stars and comets, sure looks like one.” Stella added nervously.
“Fortunately banks these days have 24 hour security cameras or we’d
never know who did this.”
“Um right… great.” Stella
squirmed.
“You two don’t have any idea who did this do you?”
“Sweet liberty no! How could
we?!”
“Um… well she wears black and um, she’s strong, maybe she’s that chick
who showed up a while back, what was her name, Devil Girl?”
“Satan Girl. You weren’t around
when she was here were you Stella?”
“Huh? No, no, I was um, on a
secret mission.”
“Right. The thing is Satan Girl
never really committed crimes herself; she would tempt people to commit
crimes. This would be a new MO for her.”
“Well don’t worry Detective Mulligan!
Stella and I will find this miscreant and bring her to justice!”
“Thanks Princess Patriot, good to know I can count on you.”
“Um right, we’ll do our best.”
Stella added lamely and headed for the window.
“Say Stella, do you know anything about these rumors the Minx is back in
town?”
“Um, no. I um, haven’t even heard
them. Honest.”
“Stella, let me ask you point blank.
Is the Minx back?”
Stella turned white and averted Mulligan’s gaze. “No… I um… the Minx isn’t coming back all
right? Um… she’s coming back soon that
is. And she’s not back now.”
“I see, well remember she’s still a wanted murderess so if she does come
back I expect to hear from you.”
“I know. Don’t worry, if I see
her… well you’ll know.” With that Stella
stepped out the window and took to the skies.
“Stella wait! We should work
together on a plan!” Princess Patriot
flew out after her but the girl of the stars was already gone.
She landed back her penthouse and hurried into her room. The black leather suit was still on her bed,
the sacks of cash on the floor. She
threw herself onto her bed and cried into her pillow.
“Oh stars and comets, what do I do now!”
Afterword
Well this was sort of the all-subplot issue. I had way too many of them that needed to be
resolved, and a whole lot of ones to introduce and there was just no other way
to do it.
I had to move
So how’d I do?
Next
Issue: Revolution! Riot!
Anarchy! Communists and other
criminals are plotting against us threatening to turn the
Marcus Lycus
August 2009
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER