After enjoying a quickie under the plush down comforter, Sara went to enjoy a shower while Maya turned on the TV to catch up on the news. A few seconds on CNN left her stunned.
"Sara, come here!"
Sara emerged from the bathroom a second later, naked and dripping. "What is it?"
"Look at the news!"
CNN was showing a live helicopter feed from New York City, which was washed in bright, early-morning light. The camera zoomed in to some figures on the street below. Sara could clearly make out people dressed as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. "Are they...?" she began.
"Yeah, look," Maya said as the Superman figure picked up a cab witht he occupants still inside and threw is the length of Times Square. A glowing green baseball bat the size of a bus materialized, took a swing at the cab, and knocked it into the Hudson River.
The CNN Reporter was breathless "As you can see, these people seem to have all of the powers of the heroes they are dressed as. Yet they seem to have none of the goodness or sense of responsibility that those fictional heroes are known for. Police estimate the death toll at over two dozen thus far, and the police have been unable to even slow their progress even a little so far..."
"Oh, man," Sara laughed. "How could I assume we were the only ones?"
Maya was thoughtful. "There were ten first-place prizes awarded. Gold editions of the rules. They must have gotten the same character generator we did."
"No way," Sara said. "Diamond beats gold. I say we go to New York to teach these cosplay freaks a little respect."
"Aw, I was hoping to sleep in, at least until the cops came."
"You don't get tired. I made you that way. You're just being lazy. C'mon, this is going to be way more fun than scaring some hick cops. And you can pretend you're the good guy. These punks are killers."
"Yeah, but we're killers."
Sara's response was to kick Maya's backside. Her foot cleaved through the bed until it made contact with her lover's derriere, sending Maya through the roof and several hundred feet into the reddening sky over the Vancouver Sound.
Maya was still rubbing her rump when Sara joined her a second later. "That really hurt!" she said. Sara stuck her tongue out in reply before streaking into the morning sun. Maya sighed, dressed herself in a nanosecond, and took off after Sara.
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The four new heroes were not hard to find. The police had cordoned off most of Times Square, while a dozen police and news helicopters hovered overhead. Sara found the four men in front of the shattered window of an electronics store, helping themselves to the merchandise on display.
"Really, boys? Smash and grab? Kind of cliche, isn't it? I'm surprised that you didn't choose to wear black domino masks to complete the look?"
The four heroes spun around. They clearly were not expecting this.
"Wonder Woman?" the Green Lantern ventured.
"Nice guess," Sara said. "But I'm just me. You can call me 'Mistress.'"
Batman nudged the Flash in the ribs. "I told you you should have become a chick. She's smokin'"
At this moment, Maya landed beside her twin, she had clearly heard the exchange, and she was as amused as Sara. "Let me guess. Contest winners?"
Superman spoke up for the group. "We don't have to tell you anything. Find your own city to loot. Times Square is ours."
Sara and Maya gave each other a look, feigning shock before both erupting into giggles. "Oh, you must score lots of chicks with lines like that," Sara laughed. "Why my old boyfriend used to say things like that..."
"Let's stay focused, shall we?" Maya asked, annoyed. "Look, you can have your fun. We saw the SWAT teams coming on the way here. In a few minutes, you'll have more fun than you know what to do with. We just wanted to introduce ourselves and get to know you before the real crazy shit went down."
"Who do you think we are?" Superman asked, annoyed. "Have you ever picked up a comic book before? And where did you get those outfits? Sluts-r-us?"
Sara made a sound like she was choking. Maya touched her on the arm to calm her. The hitting part of the encounter could wait a few moments.
"Look," Maya said calmly. "It should be pretty obvious that we got our powers the same way you did. We know all about the game. And the character generator, which is currently installed on a computer at your home which is at...?"
The four DC heroes looked at each other puzzled, then Batman barked "Clear your mind! She's a telepath!"
"486 Maple Crescent, West Orange, New Jersey," Maya said triumphantly. "Thanks, Lantern."
"Dammit!" Batman cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "Gor...Flash, go to my house and hide the laptop where she can't find it. Now!"
Maya felt a message from Sara pop into her head. You used telepathy! I'm so proud! You follow the Flash. I'll take care of these three punks.
Maya did not hesitate. In a blink she was gone, heading west over the river into Jersey. Sara cracked her knuckles for effect. "Well, boys, it's just you and me. Please play rough. I like it rough."
She help up her hand to stop the Man of Steel. He came to a halt, and she remained standing, but he did succeed in knocking her back about ten feet. He looked up at her, astonished. She grinned in reply.
"Are your powers fading? Or did I drain them? Or am I really that much stronger than you?"
She didn't give him a chance to respond. Her knee came up with the force of a million jackhammers into his crotch. Superman whimpered, then fell over, his eyes tearing up. "Who needs kryptonite?" she laughed.
The other two heroes took advantage of the exchange to make their moves. Sara found herself ensnared in bands of green energy. Try as she might, with all of her power, she could not free herself. A moment of panic set in when she realized that, despite her cosmic strength, she might still be vulnerable to some attacks.
"Hold her, Lantern!" Batman cried, pulling a cylinder out of his belt. There was a flash, and Sara found herself enveloped in a green cloud. Tears streamed from her eyes. How much trouble would it have been to add teleporting and immunity to chemical attacks to Ms Infinity? She cursed her lack of foresight.
Then a memory of the books and movies that Mark forced on her returned to her. With a thought, one of the helicopters overhead careened into a nearby bank of neon, causing yellow sparks to fly across the battlefield. This in turn caused the force bands holding Sara to flicker, and in an instant she was freed.
"Worst...drawback...ever," she said, snatching the Green Lantern off the ground. "Wanna know the second? This!" A flick of her wrist was all it took to sever the Lantern's arm. Without his connection to the ring, he felt as limp and as fragile as an ordinary man. He fell unconscious ten feet to the pavement below.
"That leaves you and me, Bats," she said. her opponent was eyeing her up, looking for an opening. He had clearly found a way to give himself his model's tactical brilliance.
"All you have to say is 'I surrender.' We don't want to grind you to mush. Really. We just want to make it clear what the new hierarchy is around here."
Batman grimmaced in reply. His answer was so grim and gravelly that Sara wanted to laugh at what an excellent Christian Bale impression he was doing. "I answer to no-one!" he cried, and he lobbed another smoke grenade. This time, Sara was ready with a puff of breath, blowing the cloud back into Batman's face. He held his breath, but he needed to race to be clear of the cloud's effects. When he emerged from the smoke, her ran straight into Sara. She grabbed his shoulders. The Caped Crusader wasn't going anywhere.
"Game over...Tony. A shame you didn't make yourself a billionaire. I kind of like that in a man.
Let's go into my office," she said. She flew straight up with her victim. Moments later, a black cowl and a utility belt fell to the streets of Manhattan below.
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Gordon Finley, now calling himself the Flash, arrived at his friend Tony's house a second after he left Manhattan. Fortunately, the door was still open. He raced to the basement, where they had left the laptop that had changed their lives forever.
"Oh, Gordon, you should really tidy up down here. Tony's mother is going to have a fit when she sees it!"
The Flash spun around. "How did you?"
"I was right behind you the whole time. I wanted you to feel you were doing well, so I let you come in first. But the game is over, Gordon. The laptop is mine now."
The Flash laughed. He had now idea how this slut had beaten him to the basement, but she clearly did not know who she was dealing with. He flipped the top open and started to type. No sooner had he hit the first key, though, than a pair of powerful hands grabbed his wrists and pinned them to his sides.
"You're the fastest man imaginable," Maya said, "But I'm faster than you can imagine. And I'm stronger." She shoved the Flash across the room so that he fell back into the couch. He was about to get up using his superspeed, but a warning finger made him wait. Maya tapped a few keys then turned the keys around so that the Flash could see that.
"See the status of your friends? One is unconscious and in shock. Another lost his arm and is in a borderline coma. A third is naked and about two thousand feet over Times Square. In about ten seconds, he's about to drop to his death."
Flash shot up making a grab for the computer, but Maya was faster. She spun out of his way and gave him a stern glance.
"Nice try. But here's how it is. I'm going to destroy this computer now. That will doom your friends to their current state. Or, if you ask nicely, I'll make some changes to you and your friends and we can all be friends forever. Sound good?"
"What will happen to me if you smash the computer? " the Flash asked in a meek voice.
"Oh, you'll stay as you are. But since I can't have any rivals running around, I'll have to kill you." The Flash swallowed. He had no doubt that the insane busty chick was capable of just that." "Unless, of course, you allow me to change you first."
"Whatever!" Gordon Finley shouted. "Just make this end!"
"I knew you'd see reason," Maya said, and she began to type.
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He was Batman to the last, Sara thought as she flew back to street level. Stubborn and defiant, she had almost hated to let him drop. Almost. Part of her did not want to see the mess that she had caused, but part of her had to be sure.
What she found amazed her. There was no naked corpse of a defrocked Caped Crusader. Instead, where he should have been was a cowled woman, clearly Batgirl, if Batgirl had gone in for immense breast implant surgery. Nearby were two other dozing women, far chestier than Sara would have thought practical for a female superhero. One was dressed as Supergirl, and the other was a green-skinned woman that Sara guessed had something to do with the Green Lantern. She rolled her eyes. It had to be Maya. She knelt down and shook Batgirl gently until she woke.
Even through her mask, her eyes registered unadulterated joy when she saw Sara. "Oh, Mistress! I'm so sorry for my bad behavior earlier! It pains me more than death that I might have added sorry to the life of tho woman I love above all things. Please punish me as you see appropriate!"
Yep, Sara sighed Definitely Maya.
