The place is Earth One, the time is 1984 and things are about to get rough for the heroines of DC's Bronze Age.
Marcus Lycus
March 2009
Issue 1 – Supergirl's Tragic Mistake
"A cure for Kryptonite?" Kara Zor-El asked innocently. "I thought it was impossible."
"Well certainly I've spent years trying to find one, for a while I thought it was hopeless as well but recently I had a revelation." Superman explained. "The key is Red Kryptonite, as we both know Red Kryptonite causes strange and unusual mutations that last about 24 hours."
Supergirl and Superman were in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman's Arctic refuge where he found freedom from the pressures of being Earth's greatest hero. Here among his trophies, his experiments and the cold Arctic wastes he could be himself.
Supergirl hated the place. It was cold. Not just physically cold, although that always annoyed her, but emotionally cold. It was all ice and stone and Kal's dusty old junk. He'd 'generously' given her a room of her own there but she avoided the Fortress like the plague. The only reason she was even up there was Kal had asked her.
No. Not asked. Summoned. Even after all these years Kal treated her with about as much respect as he treated his dog.
Less sometimes.
Supergirl was wearing her new costume, another take on Kal's classic. It had a tight blue top and the traditional 'S' symbol of course. She'd just added some red to the shoulders that blended in with her flowing cape. The other big change was below the belt. The old hot pants were gone and the old knee-length blue skirt was best forgotten. Instead she had a pleated red miniskirt that barely covered the girl of steel's shapely ass. Sure Lois Lane called it her cheerleader skirt but Supergirl didn't care. Catty bitches like Lois weren't really her core audience. Since she started flying around the Windy City flashing her bright blue panties Supergirl's popularity had gone through the roof. For the first time she was rated higher than that stuck-up Wonder Woman in Newstime's annual rankings. For a cosmic orphan whose only living relative practically ignored her, this was a dream come true.
"I'm sure you remember the time Red Kryptonite caused me to grow a third eye or the time it gave you two heads, there is simply no way to tell what effect any given sample may have on a Kryptonian."
Supergirl tried not to yawn, her cousin was always doing that. Explaining things that she already knew as if he was speaking to an invisible audience of children. She'd long-since given up trying to change him and just learned to accept it.
"But I have also noted that while under the influence of Red Kryptonite I am immune to other forms of it such as Green Kryptonite which as we both know is deadly to all Kryptonians."
Supergirl grit her teeth and faked an interested smile. Why did he always talk like that? He sounded like a bad comic book character!
"So therein lies the key but there are three problems with using Red Kryptonite to immunize myself against other forms. The first is that the effects of Red Kryptonite wear off in about 24 hours..."
Did he really just repeat that again? Did he think she was a total idiot?
"...The second is that I can only be affected by a piece of Red Kryptonite once, after that I am immune to its effects forever."
Supergirl rolled her eyes, Superman didn't notice.
"The third problem is that, even if I found a way to maintain the effects of Red Kryptonite for longer than 24 hours I would be permanently mutated. Walking around with an ant head or as a baby or as a giant would not be an acceptable answer either."
"Um right Kal, I know. We've had this conversation before."
"Yes, yes we have Supergirl, but this time something is different. You see I've solved the first problem!" With that Superman pointed to new machine in the corner of his lab. It was a chair with some kind of machine attached to it. Like all of Superman's inventions it had a bit of a retro look to it with exposed wires and electrodes and lots of blinking lights. It looked more like something from a Flash Gordon serial than cutting-edge technology. It even had a neatly lettered sign over it 'Kryptonite Stabilizer'.
"I call it the Kryptonite Stabilizer." Superman explained unnecessarily. "It will cause any Red Kryptonite rays to remain in my system forever, rendering me immune to other forms."
"But won't it keep you mutated? And since a piece of Red Kryptonite can only affect you once, you'd have to use a newly discovered one. You could end up as anything." Supergirl couldn't believe it, now she was doing it too! No wonder she avoided hanging out with Kal.
"True but I think I have found a solution. You remember Sample #263 don't you?"
"Um..."
That was the other thing, when he wasn't talking about stupidly obvious things she already knew, Superman was constantly referring to obscure bits of information she couldn't possibly know.
"Several years ago, I was exposed to Sample #263 when saving a submarine, it caused wild growth in my hair, beard and fingernails."
"Oh yeah. That one."
If he'd said 'remember the one that made my hair grow' she'd have been fine!
"Naturally with your help I was soon able to trim my hair back to its proper length. Thus if one of us were exposed to that one we could easily hide the mutation it caused."
"Except you can't be exposed to it again, it can only affect you once."
"Correct! However Kara, you were not exposed to it. Therefore I could expose you to it and you would be immune to Kryptonite!"
"M-me?" Supergirl stammered. She pictured herself with long claw-like nails and a full blonde beard. "But, but..."
"Come along now, get in the chair. I'll fetch the sample from the vault!"
Supergirl fumed. He was always doing this. Always deciding things for her. When she'd come to Earth he was the one who decided on her secret identity, he was the one who sent her to be miserable in an orphanage, he was the one who made her existence a secret. It was always him! Well that might have worked when she was a kid but she was nineteen now and she wasn't going to let him do this to her again! Especially if she might end up being a bearded woman forever!
Superman returned with a lead cylinder in his hands. "First I'll expose you then-"
"Um wait, Kal, I had a thought. Maybe there is a way that sample can affect you again. I mean the reason one sample can only affect us once is because our invulnerable bodies adjust to that wavelength of radiation within a day or so. But what if you used your heat vision to alter its molecular structure and change the wavelength slightly? Couldn't it affect you then?"
Superman thought for a moment, his powerful computer-like brain sifting through the possibilities. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Great Krypton you're right! That's brilliant Kara!"
Supergirl sighed in relief. No bearded lady for her! If Kal wanted to risk his looks that was his business!
Soon it was set up. Superman was seated in the chair. The Red Kryptonite sample was in a case next to him and Supergirl was in the next room watching a monitor, safe from the mutating rays.
Better him than me, she thought bitterly. She checked the clock on the wall, it was almost 6 back in Chicago. Linda Danvers had a date with her cute neighbor Johnny at 7. She hoped this wouldn't take much longer. Sure it would be nice to be immune to Kryptonite but after years of trying she was sure this experiment would fail too. it seemed like some things were just destined to be.
"I must say Kara, that really was a brilliant insight you had. Naturally by using my heat vision to agitate the molecular structure I can alter the wavelength of the radiation ever so slightly so the sample affects me but does not vary significantly from the previous..."
Blah, blah, blah. Supergirl tuned out Kal's technobabble.
Red beams stabbed from Superman's eyes into the chunk of Kryptonite, its color changed to a deeper red and Superman began to change. His hair grew longer and thicker, his beard as well, even his eye brows became rougher. His body swelled, his muscles were growing and expanding.
Supergirl tsked, it would take more than a haircut to hide these changes. Poor Kal would probably have to hole up here for a day or two and let a robot take his place back at the Daily Planet. Oh well, better him than me, she repeated with satisfaction.
"Hey Kal it looks like this change is a bit too much, I guess we'll scrap testing the stabilizer?"
Superman grunted something and threw the switch anyway. The chair bombarded him with strange energies.
"Kal what?" Supergirl took a step forward but stopped. The Red Kryptonite was still in there and she didn't want to become a super-cave-girl.
Then Superman rose from the chair and stomped out of the lab towards the Kryptonite vault.
"Kal?" Supergirl trailed along behind him. "Kal are you OK? Kal what are you-"
He opened the vault and started opening Kryptonite sample containers.
"Kal no!"
Superman picked up a chunk of green and held it in his hand. His face didn't show a bit of discomfort. He reached for the next container - Kryptonite Sample #582-Gold.
"Kal! Great Rao stop!"
Gold Kryptonite was the worse of the worst. It would remove all of a Kryptonian's powers permanently. Instantly. Kara ducked behind the lead-lined vault door to escape its rays. If Kal was wrong, if the experiment didn't work... Earth would lose its champion.
She waited, each second an agony.
The she heard it. A chuckle. A giggle. A full belly laugh. The laughter grew louder, hysterical, irrational. It shook the foundations of the mighty fortress.
And it scared Kara to her core.
She heard footsteps coming closer. She didn't dare step out to look, if the Gold Kryptonite was still out, if she got too close to it...
"Hello cuz!" Superman peeked his head around the door.
"K-Kal, the G-g-"
"What? What's that you're trying to ask about? The Gold Carp-tonite? Oh I put it away, I wouldn't want my prettiest cousin to lose her powers would it?"
"A-and you?"
"And me? And me? Well take a look!"
He pulled a chunk of green out from behind his back and held it up. The pain hit Supergirl like a thousand hot needles stabbing into her flesh. But Kal seemed unaffected. He held it close to his face, smiled and took a big bite out of it. She heard it crunching in his teeth.
"Mmm-mmm, sure tastes good."
"Kal... please..." Supergirl felt nauseous and feverish, the chunk was only a few feet away and she was cornered between the lead door and the icy wall. Her knees wobbled and she collapsed in a heap.
Superman took a step forward holding the chunk over her like he was gloating. Powdery bits rained down on the girl of steel from where Kal had taken his bite.
"Boy Kara you should see your face. I bet you're wishing you'd volunteered for the experiment instead of suckering me into playing guinea pig."
Supergirl only replied with gasps, her fingernails and eyes were taking on a greenish tinge. Sweat was pouring off her turning the blue and red top translucent. Superman took a good look.
"I wonder how long you can last Kara? I mean this isn't too big a chunk but you're already looking kind of green around the gills. How you feeling?"
Supergirl just moaned.
"What's that cuz? Speak up!" He prodded her with his booted foot. He could feel the feverish heat through his costume. He shook his head a few times and kneeled down, holding the kryptonite chunk near her head. She recoiled but the Man of Steel simply seized her hair and held her in place.
"I guess I should thank you cuz. Without your little suggestion I'd still be some goody-two-shoes afraid to reach out and take what I want. But now I've got so much testosterone roaring through my veins, damn, I haven't felt like this since my x-ray vision kicked in during cheerleader practice. Guess we should have given a bit more thought to what hormone leads to big thick beards. Yup, all that testosterone and here I am with a very attractive, very helpless blonde."
He leaned close and planted a sloppy kiss on Supergirl's slack lips.
"Kuh-Kal… N…"
"Oh this ain't gonna work, this ain't gonna work at all." Superman straightened up and scratched his head. "Here I am with one of the half dozen women on Earth I can have sex with, and the only way to keep her quiet is to almost kill her. What to do, what to do…"
He blinked twice, then he smiled. Then he vanished in a blue and red blur.
Supergirl gasped several times. With the kryptonite gone she could already feel her powers returning.
"Great Rao! The red kryptonite has affected his mind! I have to notify the Justice Lea-uh…" The pain and the nausea returned, the Maid of Might doubled over clutching her stomach.
"Geeze cuz, do you always announce your plans in advance like that? I mean I am still Superman, I could hear you. Fuck, I could have heard you if you'd been on the moon. I guess brains never were your strong suit huh? Or taste, I mean look at that costume you picked out."
"Kuh-Kal, please you can't…"
"Oh Kara, always telling me what to do. Just like Ma, just like Lois. Nag, nag, nag. But it's OK, I still like you. In fact I got you some gifts."
His hands became blurs, Supergirl heard a CLICK and felt something lock around her neck. A lance of pain stabbed up through her skull right into her brain. Her vision swam and she stumbled forward into Superman's arms. He held the limp girl in one meaty arm and reached her ear with the other hand. Supergirl vaguely felt a stab of pain from her earlobe and then a much worse one shot through her already aching head. Superman rolled her limp body over and repeated the motion on her other ear. The pain got worse. Supergirl couldn't think, couldn't see right, her head was congested, aching, stuffy, feverish…
"Do you like them?" Superman twisted her head to face an icy wall. Supergirl tried to focus her eyes, it was the hardest thing she'd ever done.
"Kal, n… nuh…" She couldn't get the words out, her tongue was made of sandpaper. Earrings and a necklace. That's what he'd given her. A metal choker with a small green stone and two matching studs with green stones hanging from them. Kryptonite. Just small chunks, not even pebbles but locked to her head. She could feel power in her limbs, in her body, but the poisonous radiation made it impossible to think right, impossible to use that power.
Superman released her. She fell against the wall. She tried to remember how to stand, tried to tell her legs what to do but she just couldn't. She slid down the icy wall and fell in a heap at Superman's feet her legs splayed widely open. With some effort she focused her eyes again. From the floor all she could see were his boots, her head twitched and she saw his blue tights leading up, up to the red trunks. Which were tenting with a very large, very obvious erection.
Superman stood between her long tan legs and smiled. "Oh baby, I can see you're thinking what I'm thinking." Supergirl tried to rise but only managed to wiggle her hips. She could barely see, barely hear but the fear was rising in her gut, she had to get away. But it was so hard…
She felt Superman's hands on her yellow belt, felt her pleated red skirt coming off.
"N… no… Kal…"
"Hush cuz. You're just shy cause it's your first time. Well don't worry, it's mine too."
He unbuckled his own belt and let his trunks fall to the floor. He crouched down. His rough hands peeled up Supergirl's tight blue top exposing her firm round breasts. In the cold of the Fortress her nipples quickly firmed up.
"Getting in the mood huh?" He kneeded her breasts a few times making her moan slightly. "Yeah, I knew you'd be into this."
"Kal… please… cousins…"
"Yeah? So? Cousin-sex ain't incest, hell we can even get married in New Jersey! And y'know, the Kryptonian race ain't gonna restart itself!"
"Kal… please…" She whispered through half lidded eyes.
"Please? Well if you say so!"
To Be Continued…
Ah Supergirl, one of my favorite characters to write. This is my third x-rated Supergirl story, plus my epic story Stella and the Minx (aka What if Supergirl and Batgirl took over for Superman and Batman? And also had a lot of sex and got defeated a lot and Supergirl became a drug addict… it's a lot of fun). I just love the character because if you read her silver-age stories you see a really damaged young woman there who lost everything she loved, whose only living relative locked her away in an orphanage and then drifted through life with no direction.
The beard-growing kryptonite is a real example from an old red-k story, I was trying to think of an interesting way to turn Supes evil when I remembered that.
So new we have the start of Superman's insanity, with Supergirl as his slave where will he look next?
Perhaps a trip to Washington DC is in order…
Come back next week for the Wonder Woman's Woe! And of course let me know what you think of this one!
Marcus Lycus
March 2010