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Emily
"The incident occurred around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when Lung was seen flying through the exit of one of his brothels near the docks."
"More like kicked out and falling on his ass." Assault chimed in. Predictably, Emily could hear the audible hit that was the response of Battery. She paid it no attention and asked her secretary to continue through with the report.
"The cause of the incident was quickly revealed as a young woman, in her early twenties, flew right out of the building in pursuit. Witnesses reported the battle as one-sided and, this time, not in Lung's favor. A violent onslaught of punches and kicks ensued, while Lung quickly began shifting into his dragon form and fighting back more effectively. The woman, self-styled as Superwoman, attacked him again, picking him in the sky and flying them both very high, until she changed trajectory, forcing them both to fall on the ground at high-speed. At this point, she attacked Lung with some sort of laser vision, which completely evaporated his body, leaving behind Lung's mask, which Superwoman took as a trophy.
We suspect that Superwoman was one of the ABB's victims, who were forced to work in their brothels and she must have triggered."
"Dear God!" Militia exclaimed.
Dear God, indeed. No doubt the PRT is going to be blamed for this. Somehow. They had been forced to keep their distance from Lung after he had defeated the entire local Protectorate and now a fresh trigger had killed Lung.
Not to mention the obvious problem. There was a brand-new Alexandria package in Brockton who had single-handedly killed the strongest cape in the city. Easily at that. While the poorly shot video did not reveal the face of Superwoman so that she could be identified, thankfully that can of worms would not be opened, they could clearly see the new cape was at least as strong as the only female Triumvirate member. Meaning, Emily had yet another troublesome cape to deal with.
"Did the witnesses say what she looked like?" Emily questioned. She knew that skirting the Unwritten rules was a dangerous and slippery slope, but she needed to locate that cape fast and make a damn good sales pitch and turn this into a win.
"Black hair and pretty. Dressed in rags, all too common for women, who were forced into that.... profession. When people stopped hiding from the battle, she allegedly told them to tell whoever asks to call her Superwoman so that, and I quote, "do not end up with some stupid name"."
Emily snorted. "Less work for Glenn then. What happened after the fight? By the time first responders came to the scene, she was already gone?"
"Witness accounts state that she killed the few remaining ABB members on the scene and then helped the other women at the brothel flee the scene. There were reports of Oni Lee coming to the location and by time PRT agents arrived on location his body was located. Superwoman wasn't and she hasn't been spotted since."
Emily's mind fixated on that. With both Lung and presumably Oni Lee dead, the ABB had just lost both its leader and second-in-command and was left leaderless. The Empire and the Merchants were no doubt going to swarm the carcass like vultures, expanding their territory and she had to ensure they did not succeed.
"Ratings and power classification?" Battery asked.
"Ratings are subject to change, as you know well, but currently, on account of displayed abilities, we are labelling her as a Brute 9, Blaster 5 and Mover 7."
"Wow, hang on a minute." Dountless interrupted her this time. "Isn't that a bit high for a fresh trigger? A combined rating of over 20?"
"Witness accounts somewhat vary, but they all describe a one-sided match between the most powerful cape in the city and her. And she won. I don't need to remind you that Lung defeated the entire Protectorate before."
"We should approach her and try to sway her from the path she is heading in. She is probably confused from everything she has gone through." Miss Militia said and, while Piggot's intentions were more pragmatic, she agreed. They had to locate her and approach her with an offer. Get her into the Protectorate rather than letting her become yet another villain. This city has enough of those.
Chloe
She stood still, frozen on the floor, staring at the scene before her. Oni Lee, the feared lieutenant of Lung, had been swift in arriving to avenge his boss and had met the same end. His body had just fallen over, a hole in his chest, where his heart was supposed to be. Said organ was in Mary's hands.
No. Not Mary. She is more now. Superwoman. A cape.
But perhaps so was she. Today's events had triggered something within Chloe's mind. She had so many ideas about building stuff. Stuff that could heal. A tinker, Mary had called her, when she had shared that with her.
"One more for my collection." She said and removed Oni Lee's mask, tying it to her belt, she had taken from one of the bodies. The first thing they had done after killing Lung was to take some proper clothes from the dead. Chloe had been revolted at such scavenging, but as Mary had said they no longer had to look like cheap whores. They were no longer that.
"Are you all right, Chloe?" Mary asked, her voice softer and more familiar.
They had been dragged here the same day by the ABB. Right off the streets, with no way out. It was in this rotten place that they had met and become close. Taller than before, Mary had more muscles too. She was strong. Strong enough to protect them and defeat the dragon, like a knight from the stories. Tears flooding her eyes, Chloe all but flew into her arms, embracing the other woman tightly and holding onto her with everything she had.
"Hey, it will all be alright. I will not let anything happen to you ever again. I am strong now. Nothing and no one will ever hurt us again."
Lifting her head from the crook of Mary's neck, Chloe stared at her pretty blue eyes and gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth without thinking.
Mary looked surprised and Chloe was quick to apologize. "I am sorry, I couldn't stop myself and..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Mary smiled and returned the kiss, deeper and with meaning. For the first time in months, Chloe felt safe and loved.
She was not just "the pretty black whore". She was not a toy.
She was free.
They both were.
Mary ended the kiss and Chloe pouted, missing those pretty lips.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Chloe asked, her voice slightly wavering in anticipation.
"Does it mean that I return your feelings?" Mary returned and Chloe nodded. "Yes. It does. This is the worst possible way to begin a relationship, but we were there for each other since day one. You think I saved you, but you saved me as well. Without you, I would not have survived so long. So, if you are willing, I would like us to try."
"I would love nothing more..." She said and sealed their desires with another kiss.
"Now what?"
Chloe gasped as Mary picked her up bridal style. "Now, we leave this place and plan our future. We will never be weak again, Chloe. And with these abilities we have both developed, we will set the rules of our lives."
Safely in her arms, Mary flew them both out of the hellhole they had been forced into for almost a year. As the sky became their limit, Chloe couldn't help but think that this is what freedom should look like.
Mary
In her previous life, she had little power. An average, boring life that ended due to Covid-19 before turning 30. No achievements to speak of.
When that entity that people dealing with fiction tended to call a ROB appeared to her in her final moments, she couldn't help but agree to his offer.
Go to an alternate universe. Be interesting. Hardship for power.
As it turned out, my old world was at the center of a cluster of multiverses, which apparently bled through and inspired the more imaginative people to write about them. Including Worm.
The woman now called Mary Whitmore knew little about Worm, safe for what she had learned from a cousin, who had read it. A depressing world with superpowers; corrupt, failed heroes and a tragic main character is not exactly a successful pitch. I like my stories with happy endings.
Suffice to say, apart from some limited knowledge on a few characters, I knew nothing.
To be interesting I needed a power though, that was obvious, and to gain, I couldn't have an easy life. That is why I wasn't eager to find out the circumstances in which I was to be reborn.
If I had known the kind of hardship, I was going to get, I would have spat in his face.
Barely 19, I was snatched from the streets by a bunch of Asian gangsters and forced into prostitution. If it hadn't been for Chloe's emotional support, I would have died from all the things they forced me to do. At least on the inside.
But then again, there are worse fates than dying. Being forced to do what I was, for almost a year, with no regards to my health, was one of them.
But I survived!
When Lung had appeared on that fateful day, saying that he had wanted me for some 'private party', I was terrified and stupid enough to spit in his face (mask). And it was when he was about to 'teach me a lesson', that all my suffering was finally rewarded with something.
With power.
After a rather intense argument with that ROB, who acted more like a SOB, I got him to give me what I was owed. The powers of a Kryptonian.
After all, who was more powerful than Superman?
Killing Lung was a true pleasure. Almost orgasmic. The sounds of his screams and bones breaking. The shattering of his pride and dominance. The feeling of my power. True power.
I will never be weak again!
Chloe and I got ourselves a very nice apartment with the money we got from the Protectorate after we showed up and promised to help them out. As rogues, mind you. No one is going to own me or my girlfriend. I could see the lust in their eyes. Heck, I could hear their scheming with my super hearing. If they so much as tried to do anything, I would destroy their HQ with all of them inside. I promised that Piggot woman as such, just to show her how serious I am. My baby did not like me threatening people as much, but I got us protection money from the government and that Costa-Brown woman in exchange for help with the whole Endbringer problem.
Chloe triggering superpowers was just a bonus. I had been happily surprised that her bullshit powers could make healing technology. That could help fix this stupid city. But tinkers were always in danger because people tried to snatch them. The PRT, the E88 and whoever else wants to try their luck at doing so...
Remember Lung!
I looked at myself in the mirror. While she was unwilling to subordinate herself to them, she had to admit that the guys at the PRT had outdone themselves. Mary... no.... Superwoman's outfit looked great. The black costume with golden highlights contrasted perfectly with her white skin and matched her black hair. She particularly liked her short cloak, gold on the inside and black on the outside. Her emblem, the stylized 'S' black on a gold background was nice, too. The skin of her upper arms and above her breasts showed as well, but she liked it that way. Let them look. People's attention would likely be taken more by her fists after all. To protect her privacy, she also had a mask. A very nice one, too. It was like a black, spiked crown, extending down on her face in elegant patterns, which was enough to hide away the upper part of her face and look regal at the same time.
She glanced once more at the sleeping form of her girlfriend. Her lovely naked body, now healed thanks to Chloe's wonderful healing tinkertech, was a heavenly view, but Mary wanted to remind herself what Superwoman was fighting for.
She had considered becoming a fully-fledged hero with the PRT or a crime boss. She could do both with her powers, which made her stronger than almost any other parahuman, safe for those with the weirdest powers and even they could easily be dealt with since unlike Superman, Mary would not pull her punches.
However, she preferred it this way.
No restrictions.
Safe perhaps for the ones she agreed to with Couldron. After Contessa told her of the danger that Scion presented, she agreed to help them kill the Golden Man. He would need to be dealt with.
But not now.
For now, she looked upon her city with determination. Brockton Bay was rotten to the core - corruption and crime are the law of the land here.
The Empire 88 in particular was a thorn in her side with their racism. One of theirs, Stormtiger, had tried to forcefully recruit Chloe yesterday, despite the irony of them needing a black girl and had even tried manhandling her. Her girl's screams had drawn Mary's attention and she had swiftly disposed of the Nazi fool and relieved him of the burden of a head.
Thanks to her powers, she had easily found out who their leader is. Kaiser was local businessman Max Anders.
Her super vision pierced through over a dozen buildings, all the way to Medhall and right into his office, the man frantically questioning his other subordinates and ordering them to find Stormtiger.
Smiling at the scene, Superwoman took flight in that direction.
It is time for pest control!