The day started much the same as any other, with her husband kissing her on the forehead to wake her from an uneasy night's sleep. He was off to work and part of his daily ritual was to wake her on his way out so that she could begin her preparation for work as well. She did not sleep well, but that was nothing unusual for Flora; she rarely did. She rose begrudgingly and trudged into the modest, dated bathroom of the apartment she shared with her husband. Staring into the mirror, she splashed some cold water on her face to help her awaken.
Gazing into the mirror, she shook her head at the reflection which looked back at her. Flora was a site in the morning, and she knew it. Without the luxury of a cosmetics, she had a face which could best be described as ordinary, and even that was a generous description. She knew that she was not a beauty queen, but she had learned to make the most of what she was given, and accept it. So after a shower, some hairstyling, application of make-up and insertion of contact lenses, her appearance was agreeable, though in no way exceptional. In fact, that was what her entire life had become.
Her adult life had started out with so much promise. In college she was the president of her sorority in her senior year, and very popular. Though she rarely dated, she made up for her lack of beauty with a tenacious personality, winning the friendship and respect of many of her female classmates. After graduation, she began dating a young man whom she had known from school. It was the first long term relationship for either of them and so a few years later they married and moved into a modest, though clean apartment in a two story house just outside of New York City.
She had a good job and was doing well for the first couple of years, until she and her husband decided it was time to raise a family. Flora readily agreed put her career aside upon reaching this decision, focusing her energies on her attempt to get pregnant. To her great dismay, she was unsuccessful at the outset, though Flora attacked her failure with the same tenacity she had shown in college. She researched the backgrounds of the doctors, had numerous procedures, took multitudes of medicines and hormones and even visited a psychic. But nothing worked.
Years passed and the disappointment began to affect her entire lifestyle. She had become bitter and angry, the ordeal of disappointment after disappointment leaving a scar on Flora's personality. She began to lose touch with many of the friends she had made over the years too, earning a reputation for basically becoming a bitch.
She then went through a period where she would spend a great deal of time out with the few single friends she had left, drinking until late into the evening. It was as if she wanted to escape the reality of her life in any way she could, and drinking seemed like the best way to do that. She didn't cheat on her husband during this period, not that she had many opportunities too, but rather watched as her friends met, left with and slept with a flurry of handsome guys. That usually meant that by the end of the night, Flora was left alone to find her way home.
Once that phase of her life had passed, she then began to throw herself into her career. She had achieved some modest success early on in her career at the New York City financial firm which employed her, but had lost some of her esteem while trying to have a child. So she had an uphill battle in trying to move past the junior management role she had settled into. Flora reached the conclusion that her career had come to a halt because she was a woman, an argument which may have had some validity, but there were other reasons at work as well. Flora had become known as someone who was difficult to work with, a reputation which was well earned.
Even her marriage, which had started out with so much romance and passion, had settled into mediocrity. With no children to occupy their time, her husband had taken up golf and spent most of his weekends either enjoying that pastime or watching various other sports on television. Flora meanwhile spent that time with her family, playing with her nieces and nephews and taking care of her aging parents. Though she and her husband still loved each other, virtually all of the romance and passion were gone.
So now, in her late 30's, having been married for over 10 years and still living in the same modest apartment with no children, her career stalled and her marriage in a state of atrophy, Flora had basically become resigned to that fact that this was the best her life was gonna get.
Continuing her morning preparation, she slipped into a semi-stylish though somewhat androgynous outfit consisting of black pleated slacks, a white, short sleeved, cotton blouse and pair of black flats. She then grabbed her gym bag and pocketbook before running out the door to begin the short walk to the bus stop.
The day passed uneventfully, as did most, and when it ended she turned off her computer and left the office. She reached her bus stop and stood waiting for over 30 minutes. Finally, frustrated at the delays, she decided to walk a few blocks over and take the subway home. She had planned to stop off at the gym for a work-out on the way home, but the subway would leave her much further away from it than the bus, further adding to her frustration.
She stood on the steamy platform, waiting for the train to pull into the station along with several hundred other commuters. As a neutral observer looking down at the mass of humanity, Flora was difficult to pick out of the crowd. Between her small stature and plain appearance, she just seemed to blend in. Unfortunately for her however, someone did in fact pick her out of the crowd, and the result would change her life forever.
An irritated homeless man stood on the platform several feet from Flora, nervously twitching and mumbling under his breath. Though slightly nervous, Flora wasn't too worried and didn't think much of it. This was the New York City subway after all, so weirdoes came with the territory. Flora stood at the platform's edge, glancing over and noticing the approaching headlights of her train. She stepped back, but before she knew what happened, the deranged homeless man charged at her, violently pushing her in front of the approaching train.
Flora tumbled down onto the tracks as several of the bystanders began to scream and wave their arms, trying to get the train to stop while others chased the fleeing lunatic, who eventually escaped. Flora landed on her back between the rails, but her right arm fell out to her side, a wide, silver bracelet she was wearing on her right wrist striking the electrified third rail. The train screeched as the emergency brake was applied, sparks from the train blending with the sparks which broadcast from Flora's arm. Her entire body began to convulse violently as the train rumbled over her body, which was safely tucked between the rails. That is all of it but her right arm. Her right wrist, having absorbed an incredible amount of voltage, was then thrown from the electrified rail, landing directly on the rail next to it. A split second later, the train rumbled through and ran right over it.
The screams from the bystanders were deafening; the assumption that Flora had just been killed was the prevailing hypothesis amongst them. But as the train ground to a halt and several of the onlookers apprehensively looked down onto the tracks, they were amazed to see Flora's body wriggling from beneath the massive subway car. Anxiously they began to yell for help and after the heroic efforts of several members of the law enforcement personnel, they were eventually able to pull her out from beneath the train. And though unconscious and pale white, but very much alive.
Her body was hot to the touch, but her chest heaved up and down, signifying life. They laid her limp body on the platform, and just a few moments later, she was placed on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. The paramedics went to work on her immediately, one of them taking her left arm and checking her blood pressure and pulse while the other checked her temperature. Each finished at about the same time, and stared blankly at each other upon observing the readings, which were all off of the chart!
Flora's temperature was 120 degrees and her pressure was through the roof. By all accounts, she should have been dead! But after a momentary pause of disbelief, they went right back to work, checking the rest of her vital signs. No one had witnessed whether or not any part of Flora's body had actually touched the electrified rail, but the next discovery by the paramedics seemed to confirm their fears.
They reached for her right arm and noticed that the wide, silver bracelet she was wearing had become embedded into her wrist. In fact if not for the difference in color and texture from her skin, the bracelet would have been indistinguishable from the rest of her arm. When one of the paramedics went to touch it however, he quickly screamed and backed away, his hand burnt from the heated metal. Again the two stared at each other and shook their heads in disbelief.
Though they couldn't believe what they were seeing, what they didn't know was even more unbelievable. The bracelet had become electrified from striking the third rail and then imbedded into her skin when the train ran over it. It was now permanently impaled in her arm. The series of events were truly amazing, and completely unexplainable. First of all the high voltage from the electricity which bore through her body, should have killed Flora instantly. Secondly, the weight of the train running over her wrist should have severed it from her body instantly. And finally, the wound from where the bracelet punctured her skin should have been bleeding extensively. But none of those things happened!
Reaching the hospital, Flora was rushed into the Emergency Room, where she was put through a battery of tests. By this time however, her body had adjusted, and so her vital statistics all returned to reasonable levels, Flora gradually regaining consciousness. Scores of doctors were called in over the next 24 hours to examine her, but Flora appeared to be perfectly healthy, with the exception of the bracelet. So with her condition stabilized, the 2question of the bracelet arose. The conclusion was that no one seemed to know what to do about it, how to remove from Flora's wrist without causing severe and permanent damage. The best specialists in the city were amazed and bewildered, not one reaching a conclusion as to what to do next.
Flora and her husband consulted with all of them, but grew increasingly frustrated at their lack of answers. Finally, after being hospitalized for three days and with no signs of ill effects from the amazing incident, Flora and her husband decided it was best for her to go home. Though the doctors all advised against it, neither could they come up with an alternate plan of action. So the next day, Flora's husband took her home.
Flora rested upon her arrival, though by this point she felt fine. In fact she felt better than fine, she felt energized. So after laying in bed for a couple of hours, she decided to get up and make dinner. She stood in the kitchen and debated her choices before deciding to make a small antipasto. She first reached for a jar of marinated peppers which she had just bought a few days earlier. Usually these jars were shut so tight that she had to ask her husband to open it, but showing her stubbornness, first she wanted to try it for herself. Knowing it would be difficult, she gave it a quick, hard jerk and was shocked at the result. Not only was she able to open the jar, but the glass exploded in her hands from the pressure she exerted. Her husband raced into the kitchen to see what had happened, and found Flora standing with her mouth wide open, the broken jar and its' ingredients at her feet. They both stared at each other for a moment, but Flora quickly realized that things had changed.
She had always been very diligent about her physical fitness and was a regular at the local gym. But despite all of her hard work over the years, Flora had never been able to gain any considerable amount of strength or muscle tone. Though she had always worked very hard at her exercises, the results were never very obvious and she remained slight of build. But something was different.... she somehow felt different now. Wanting to test her theory, she walked over to her husband and placed her hands on his waist. She then took a deep breath and effortlessly lifted him up over her head.
They were both shocked and amazed as Flora pressed him in the air for a few moments before letting him down gently. Without saying a word, she walked over to the television set in the living room. It was a big screen and weighed at least a hundred pounds or so, but Flora easily lifted it into the air with one hand. She proceeded to storm around the apartment, lifting every heavy object she could get her hands on.
Excited and overcome, Flora began to think about some of the other changes which might have taken place as a result of her accident. She stood a few feet away from her husband for a minute, pondering the possibilities. A smile then crossed her lips as she dropped her arms to her side, bent her knees and then leaped into the air. Her husband almost keeled over as Flora began to fly, soaring up toward the ceiling. The euphoria was short lived however, as Flora's head quickly rammed into the ceiling, sending her tumbling back to the ground, landing hard on her rear.
She was incredibly excited, but then the pain began to kick in. She didn't know whether to rub her head or rub her rear-end, since both hurt as badly as the other. But as she massaged the pain away, she again began to smile.
"I guess I'm still human!" she joked to her husband, who was as pale as a ghost by this time. The two spent the next few hours exploring the changes which had taken over Flora's body. They concluded that she had somehow received the ability to fly and incredible strength as a result of her accident. But they also discovered that, just as Flora had joked earlier, she still had all of normal vulnerabilities. While she had received incredible strength and abilities, she had not become immune to pain. So even though she had become in many ways superhuman, she was still subject to many of her human handicaps.
But the discovery was amazing to Flora, and she was so excited that she could not sleep. She sat up with her husband until late in the evening, trying to rationalize what had happened to her. The gore of her accident had turned into an amazing discovery. But as they talked and talked, finally the two became completely exhausted and finally decided to call it a night. Flora changed into her nightgown, a silk teddy, before climbing into bed next to her husband. Though still overwhelmed by the day's events, she was so tired that she could barely keep her eyes opened. She leaned over, kissed her husband, and then closed her eyes.
Flora remained motionless for a few more minutes, her husband quickly dozing off before her But just as she felt like she was falling asleep, she heard a woman calling for help, which jarred her awake. She quickly reached over and turned on the light, asking her husband if he had heard it too. But waking him to a groggy state, she could tell that he had heard nothing. She sat up for a few more minutes and then finally laid back down, once again closing her eyes. But again the groans of the same woman jarred her awake. Once again she shook her husband awake and demanded he listen for the noise with her, but after a few minutes, no sounds were heard.
Again she laid back down and closed the light, this time asking her husband to lay awake with her, which he did. But as she jumped upright at the screams, her husband lay motionless, hearing nothing. "It's okay Flora, it's probably just the trauma from what happened to you. Try to get some sleep." But even though she desperately wanted to, she couldn't stop the noises.
As she lay awake, listening to the muffled moans of the woman, Flora began to visualize the scene. She envisioned exactly where the woman's voice was coming from, and felt compelled to get up and do something about it. She rose out of bed and walked toward the window, pulling it open. The pleas for help continued until finally Flora could take no more. Though dressed in only her skimpy nightgown, she found herself jumping out of the window and flying in the direction of the woman's voice.
Flora wasn't sure what was happening, but she was not scared. In fact, she felt as if, for the first time in years, she knew exactly what she was doing. She soared over the city, terrified more of flying than anything else. She had trouble controlling her body as she flew closer to the sounds until finally finding herself compelled to head over toward a particular Luxury Sky Rise Condominium. She flew closer to a specific balcony, but having never flown before, wasn't sure what to do next. Though she knew where she wanted to land, she could not control her body as she briskly traveled through the air. Finally, unable to prevent it, she slammed face first into a large window of the apartment, sliding down and falling onto the floor of it's balcony.
The collision hurt her, but as Flora shook the cobwebs from her head while seated on the hard floor, the sliding glass door opened and a burly man walked out. "Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily, as Flora looked up at him hastily. She then turned her attention into the apartment for a moment, noticing a very frightened looking woman with blood streaming down her face, her clothing ripped. The man charged at her and quickly grabbed Flora by the hair before she could react, pulling her onto her feet. Instinctively, Flora retaliated by delivering a wild though powerful punch into the man's gut.
He wheezed sickly upon impact, all of the color draining from his body as his mouth fell open before he fell to the floor. Flora yelled for the woman to dial 911 as she stood over him, stomping her foot down onto his back to keep him on the floor. With one punch she had knocked him to the floor, and kept him there! She hovered over him until she saw the sirens of the police cars arriving, and then jumped up and flew away.
She looked back, making sure that the police had arrived safely before she flew off, heading back home. It had all been a blur to Flora and she still wasn't sure if it had been real or just a dream. But as she flew on, the pain from her collision with the window left little doubt that it had been very much real. But she had an incredible feeling of pride and accomplishment, unlike any she had ever experienced before. She could not believe that she was actually flying, and that she had just saved a woman from being molested. As she flew on, she began to realize that all of the events which had taken place over the past few days seemed to have had happened for a purpose. In a life filled with disappointments and shattered dreams, Flora finally realized that she had found her destiny. She was now a Super Heroine!
She smiled at first, and then began to laugh out loud as the realization hit her. She was destined to be a superhero, and she had just been initiated. She soared through the air inelegantly, still not able to master flying, but loving every minute of it. Finally, seeing her apartment below, she began her descent. Moving slowly and cautiously, she positioned herself to re-enter the same window she had left open when she left. Her husband had slept through it all, and Flora decided that it was best that he did. Moving closer, she readied herself to enter the window. She tried to set her body so that she would enter feet first, but quickly lost control and slammed into the brick wall on the side of the window.
Flora fell to the ground, landing in the garden alongside her apartment, scraping her arm and bumping her head in the process. But even though it hurt, it still did not take away from the satisfaction of the night's events. She got up, brushed herself off and then jumped up and quietly crawled through the open window, tip-toeing into the bathroom to clean her bruises and change her nightgown before finally climbing into bed to get some much deserved sleep. As she lay there, she decided that it was best to keep this all to herself for now. After all, it might just have been a one night stand!
The next day was filled with excitement as Flora and her husband continued to discover her newfound powers. They had locked themselves inside and continued to experiment with various tests of strength. But though they explored her strength at great lengths, they were not able to explore her flying much at all. They certainly did not want to go outdoors, fearing that someone might see her, and there was little room for experimentation indoors too. So even though still excited, the day did not bring much in the way of new discoveries. But again that night, as her husband fell asleep, Flora was startled by the screams of a woman in distress. It was a different voice this time, but again Flora sensed the exact location and sprung into action.
Making sure not to wake her husband, she climbed out of bed, opened the window and again flew off in the direction of the cries. Again she gave no thought as to what she was wearing, a sleek, silk teddy. This time the screams took her toward Central Park, where she came across a young woman being dragged behind a tree by two young men. Flora quickly descended upon them, but again was unable to control her body and crashed into one of them, knocking both him and herself to the floor.
The two men were startled, but quickly turned and saw Flora sprawled on the floor in her nightgown. "What the hell is this?" the first guy yelled to the other. But the second guy was much cooler about it as a smile crossed his face while he moved menacingly closer to her. "So.... You want to join us chickie? At least you are dressed for it!"
He was about to pounce on her when Flora abruptly kicked her leg up as he reached her, ramming her foot into his groin. He yelped like a sick dog before falling over and cowering into the fetal position. The other man then abruptly charged at her, but Flora was able to trip him up before jumping onto his back and ramming his head down into the pavement. The frightened woman looked on in amazement as Flora held up the face of the now bloodied hoodlum, before dropping his head back down again.
The woman began to sob in relief as Flora tried to comfort her, convincing her that everything was okay. She then walked the woman towards one of the mobile Police Stations just outside the park, flying off once they within walking distance of it. She quickly sped off, not wanting to be noticed, the woman staring at her in shock as she flew away. Again the feeling of pride and accomplishment consumed Flora, leaving her feeling like she never had before, the best she had ever felt in her life! Once out of sight, she looked down at the twinkling lights of the city, amazed at what she had done.
Continuing home, she began to grow nervous, realizing that another landing was coming up. She was a long way from mastering flying, and she had the bumps to prove it. So as she approached the open window, she tried to slow down and get herself under control, but could not figure out how. She knew she was in trouble as she drew closer, but could not prevent the painful crash which as about to take place.
She tried to stiffen her body to help keep her under control, but Flora again could not prevent a collision, this time running headfirst into the brick wall. Unable to slow down much, the blow knocked her out and sent her tumbling into the garden, unconscious. Flora's body landed behind a shrub in the garden and remained there until just before dawn, when she finally came around, her head screaming with pain. She was groggy, but knew she had to get back inside before her husband awoke, so she jumped up and crawled through the window and into the bathroom.
Once inside, she locked the door and stumbled into the shower where she turned on the cold water and let it pour over her aching head. She rubbed her hand across it and felt an egg shaped lump, the painful result of her latest crash. After a few minutes she finally got her wits about her and dried off before walking back into the bedroom. She was able to get back into bed just minutes before the alarm went off, waking her husband. "Thanks God he is a heavy sleeper" she thought, her head still throbbing.
Late the next night, again Flora heard the screams of a distressed woman and scurried out of bed, careful not to disturb her husband. This time however, she decided to change out of her nightgown before embarking on her adventure, hastily slipping on a pair of blue jeans she had just bought, a sweatshirt which lay on the floor near her bed and a pair of sneakers. She flew off and before long, found herself descending upon the vast home of a wealthy widow in a very affluent suburban neighborhood. It was a robbery in progress and she could see that the thieves had locked the woman up in her bedroom as they ransacked the place.
Flora flew around to the back of the house and tried to land on the patio near the back door, hoping to surprise them. But she lost control and stumbled on her landing, knocking over the garbage cans and sending one of them rolling into the back door, which prompted the motion detector to turn on the spotlights and house alarm. Flora was still tangled up just outside the back door in the garbage , which had partially spilled onto her as a result of her crash. The loud siren caused the criminals to head for the exit, which meant the back door, just where Flora was stumbling to her feet. Just as she got up however, four criminals, three men and one women, barreled out of the back door, knocking her over in the process.
Flora again fell backward, landing on her back and striking her head hard against the patio. Though still conscious, she was dazed and momentarily stunned. The criminals stopped and looked down at her, the one woman walking over as the three men stood behind her. The woman was an imposing figure, about 6 feet tall with a thick, full head of blonde hair. She had on a long trench coat, which was unbuttoned to reveal an incredibly beautiful, slightly muscled body. Even her clothes were sexy and stylish, wearing a tight, black, cropped T-short with the word "Diva" written across the chest, and pair of tight, black silk shorts and long, leather boots.
As Flora laid on her back she looked up, her eyes slowly rising up the long, leather clad legs of her agitator. She then glanced past her rippled midriff and firm, rounded chest before staring into Diva's cold, stern eyes while trying to get up.
"Are you the bitch who set off the alarm?" she screamed down at the still dazed, Flora, who was unable to get up in time to defend herself. The diva then kicked Flora in the side, knocking her back down and causing her to groan in pain. The imposing blonde then stormed over and pulled Flora's sweatshirt up and over her head, trapping the heroine's arms over her head and bound in her own clothing. As Flora floundered on the floor to free herself, the blonde gave her several brutal kicks in her ribs, causing Flora to roll onto her side and cover her aching body as the four hastily ran off, carrying bags full of loot.
Flora tired to gingerly get to her feet, but her ribs were aching badly. She tried to get a glimpse of the car which carried the criminals speeding away, but could not. She then pushed herself to get up before running a few steps after them, but she tripped on a bag of valuables which one of the thugs had dropped and fell flat on her face. By the time she got up, sore, disoriented and smelling of garbage, the car was long gone. She slowly got up again and sat on the patio, aching from the bumps and bruises. She looked down at the bag of loot which had tripped her up and shook her head, realizing that she had just experienced her first failure.
She composed herself before walking into the house and freeing the woman, who offered to help clean her up a bit. She was very upset with herself for letting the crooks get away, and for letting them trap her so easily in the first place. But after a few minutes Flora got over it and thanked the woman before stepping outside and flying away, circling the neighborhood to see if she could spot the car, though unsuccessfully.
As she finally made her way home, she thought about what had happened, and gradually began to feel a little better about it. Even though the criminals had gotten away, she had set off the alarm and scared them away. So even though they did get away some valuables, at least no one was hurt. That is, no one but her. She flew home with a clear conscious, but aching ribs. But as she drew closer to home, though, her thoughts shifted to the dreaded landing. She decided that she was not yet ready to try and land through the window, so she would simply land on the ground below the window and then climb in.
It was going very well too, that is until she felt a twinge in her ribs and jerked her body, knocking her into the wall. This time she only hit her shoulder and not too badly, so she was able to jump up into the window with little incident after that.
The next night, and the few after went quite well however. She broke up an attack on a woman in a deserted alleyway on the first night, and then two separate robbery attempts at the homes of single women on the next two nights, and finally she broke up a car jacking on the last night, all without waking her husband. But even though successful, she still experienced some small mishaps each time, usually with her flying.
On the next night she again was awakened by a woman's screams, another robbery attempt. She flew off in her sneakers, jeans and sweatshirt once again, making her way to another affluent neighborhood and the home of a single mother. This time she was able to get in the house safely and unnoticed, hiding the mother and her children before turning her attention to the criminals.
As she walked out of the bedroom where she had safely left them and turned the corner into the next room, she again was confronted with the same woman she had seen a few nights, breaking into the other house. Standing only 5 foot 5 inches tall, Flora was dwarfed by the tall, muscular woman in the long trench coat. She was virtually staring into the woman's chest as they were toe to toe.
The last time they had met, the woman had gotten the better of her, but this time Flora was ready and quickly sent a forceful punch at the woman's side, only glancing her, but knocking her over nonetheless. But the commotion had alerted the other henchman who had snuck up behind her. Copying their boss's maneuver from the last time, one of them reached forward and quickly pulled Flora's sweatshirt up and over her head, trapping her arms there as well. Flora tried to wiggle free, but before she knew what hit her, a vase came crashing down onto her head, knocking her out cold.
When the leader of the gang got up, still rubbing her side from where Flora had hit her, she pulled Flora's sweatshirt off of her, leaving her in only her black, lace bra and jeans. She then grabbed the unconscious Flora by the hair on the back of her head and yanked her up. "You again? Who the hell do you think you are, some superhero or something? Well then let's teach you a lesson tonight about getting involved in our business, okay boys?"
The three men nodded in agreement before dragging Flora's body over to the Foyer and dumping it onto the marble entry hall. Two of them then walked up the long, winding staircase before throwing a rope down from the second story landing. The other guy took the rope and tied a knot around the back belt loop of Flora's jeans before pulling her limp body up and leaving her dangling about 10 feet in the air. They then tied the other end of the rope onto the banister, leaving Flora to dangle in mid air just at the entrance to the home.
"That will be the first thing the cops see when they come into the house!" the woman declared before they all laughed, took their loot and made their escape. After a few more minutes, Flora came to and was petrified at what they had done to her. She knew that she could not escape without falling to the floor. But the other alternative was that she would be discovered, which was something she was not yet ready for.
She thought about her plan of action for a few minutes, but then decided there was only one way down. First she tried to reach behind her for the rope, but was unable to grab onto it. She then began to shift her weight, beginning to swing her body back and forth. She began to build up momentum until finally, the belt loop on her jeans broke, sending her tumbling down and crashing onto the hard, marble floor.
The landing was painful, but she was finally free. Just then the woman and her children carefully walked out of the upstairs bedroom before they noticed Flora squirming in pain, ran down to assist her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, to which Flora eventually nodded her head. She was sore and bruised, but she was okay. "Who are you?" the woman then asked. Flora was not prepared for the question, and did not answer, so the woman asked again. "I appreciate your help tonight miss, but who are you?"
Just as she said the words however, the front door opened and two policemen came barreling into the house. They were followed closely by a reporter who had been riding with them, hoping to catch a glimpse of the super woman that had been rumored to be in the city. Flora was startled, but quickly got to her feet, grabbed her sweatshirt and ran toward the back door, followed closely by the reporter, camera in tow. He chased her out the back door, and though Flora was a few feet ahead of him, before she jumped up to fly away, she turned to look back at him. They exchanged stares and then in that second, he snapped a picture of her as she was about to fly away. Flora sped off as fast as she could, her heart racing at the possibility of being discovered.
As she flew home, she could feel herself becoming ill, thinking about her picture being spread across the front page of every paper. Instead of a super hero, she felt like a super flop. If this got into the papers, she would be the laughing stock of the entire city!
She soon arrived home, not even thinking about her landing for a change. Miraculously though, she landed softly on the ground just outside of her bedroom window, allowing her to climb in uneventfully. She quietly changed into her nightgown, her whole body aching and sore as lay down in bed, petrified at what the morning would bring.
The next morning, one of the larger newspapers in the city did indeed run the story, but it was buried in the middle of the newspaper and not seen by many. And the picture, the thing which Flora feared most, turned out too blurry to print. But this all brought up some important issues that Flora needed to address. First off, if she were to continue these midnight missions, she would need to be dressed much more appropriately. She thought long and hard about to wear until finally it dawned on her. She needed to be comfortable. She needed freedom of movement. She needed simplicity. This were all the same requirements she had for her gym attire. So when the screams were to wake her that night, she had planned to reach into her gym bag and slip on her gym clothes.
First she would pull on a pair of bright yellow, capri cut leggings. They were tight, but comfortable, dipping in front to reveal a cute little paunch of a tummy which Flora had never been able to get rid of. She then would pull on her bright yellow Athletic Bra with a racer back, which offered plenty of support to her small chest. She still hadn't figured out the right footwear though, so she would simply wear her sneakers once again, until she had a better option.
So with the attire taken care of, the next issue to address was that of her identity. She did not want to risk being discovered, so she decided that she needed to wear some kind of mask. Unable to fully comprehend what she wanted her identity to be, she decided to simply go with a sash of yellow silk, cutting out two holes for her eyes.
So that night, she slipped into her new outfit, flew off into the night and successfully broke up an assault on a young woman with no incident. Flora began to become more comfortable with her flying too, the mishaps occurring less frequently, though still on occasion. But as she broke up more and more criminal acts, wearing the same attire, her story began to spread. The newspapers began to run stories of her heroic acts on their front pages, giving all kinds of silly names and speculating about her identity. But Flora didn't think much about it until one night, after saving an elderly women from being robbed, the woman grabbed her by the arm and held her tightly.
"Young lady, I want to thank you, but I don't know your name. Can you please tell me what it is?" Flora paused and then thought about it for a moment. She contemplated what had gotten her to this point, and then smiled. "You can call me Voltage!" she proclaimed, before flying off into the night sky.
The next day the newspapers trumpeted her name, and all the city was aglow with stories of Voltage and her heroics. Flora got caught up in the euphoria and even decided to modify her costume to reflect her new name. She bought some material from the local fabric store, a large piece of yellow and a large piece of bright, shimmering silver. She then took her yellow leggings and cut the front into a deep V, several inches below her belly button. She then cut out two lightening bolts from the shiny, sliver material, and sewed them onto the V in her leggings. The two bolts of Lightening joined each other at her crotch, forming a "V" for Voltage.
She then cut another deep V into her yellow bra before sewing matching Lightening Bolts onto it as well, forming another "V" at her meager cleavage. Finally she had found the perfect footwear. While in a very trendy part of the city, she had found a pair of vintage boots from the 70's. They were made of bright, yellow vinyl, the color matching the rest of her outfit perfectly. The boots were low cut, rising only to just above her ankles, and with rubber soles for excellent traction.
She then set out to make a new mask. In keeping with her theme, she took the silver material and cut it into a single, "V" shaped lightening bolt, poking out the holes for her eyes before tying it behind her head. The bolts ran down the sides of her forehead, and met at the bridge of her nose, doing a good job of marring her true identity. And finally, to finish things off, she made a cape of yellow silk, sewing a large, silver, "V" shaped Lightning Bolt into the middle of it.
Her husband had been traveling on business for the past week, allowing her the freedom to make her costume in the privacy of her own apartment. So with no one around, she slipped it all on and stood before the mirror, seeing how she looked. Flora was quite slight of build in reality. At only 5 foot 4 inches and weighing just a hair over 105 pounds, she was not an intimidating figure. In fact, she possessed anything but the prototypical superhero's body. Her short, black hair showed streaks of premature gray, one of her front teeth was bigger than the other, her thin frame was soft and flabby and she looked anything but imposing. But with her new costume on, Flora felt like a new woman. In fact, she was no longer Flora, she was now... Voltage!
Incredibly, her husband was not aware of all of the commotion surrounding his wife, since he had literally slept through all of it. She had been able to hide her bumps and bruises, and always managed to get back into bed before he awoke. And with him away for the week, Flora was growing increasingly more comfortable in her role, and more successful too! The bumps and bruises she had experienced early on were becoming less frequent, though she was still not quite as coordinated as you might expect. But she had begun to fit right into the superhero role, was enjoying it and was admired by the entire city, though no one knew her. What she didn't realize however, was that she was also now a target.
The gang which she had run into twice was actually a very accomplished band of thieves, and Voltage had begun to cut into their profits. So with the stories of her heroics chronicled daily in the media, the leader of the gang was able to do her homework and learn something about this new heroine. First she discovered that Voltage only seemed to respond to the cries of help from women, not men. Next she deduced that, while Voltage had super strength and the ability to fly, she also had some pretty apparent vulnerabilities. In fact, she remembered how easily she had been able to hurt Voltage the first time they ran into her, and even knock her out and imprison her the second time around. She also knew that Voltage seemed to work alone, and wasn't very experienced in the crime fighting business. So with all of the information she needed, the gang leader devised her trap, and that night planned to carry it out.
She and her gang had been casing the home of a very wealthy couple for a number of weeks, and had the layout of the house down pat. So with the husband away on business, they made their move late that night. They broke in and woke the woman, causing her to scream for help, which spurred Voltage into action. For the first time, she slipped into her full regalia; cape, boots and everything, and then sped off into the night. With her husband still away, she had the luxury of turning the lights on to change, though she knew that would soon come to head, one way or another.
But feeling great about her new appearance and anxious to show the world, she flew into the night, her cape blowing gracefully behind her in the night sky. As she drew closer to the home, which was situated in a beautiful suburban area of Westchester, she felt confident and ready for action. As she approached the house she flew around it once to try and get a feel for what was going on inside. She saw a woman tied to a chair, in the middle of a bedroom on the second floor. To her surprise, the window to the bedroom was open too, which made for a convenient entrance. She made another trip around as she debated what to do, and finally decided that she would fly in through the open window.
She knew that this would be risky, since even though her flying had improved, she still had trouble entering through windows. In addition, it was a very windy night and she also now had the cape to contend with, but she felt overwhelmingly self-assured, and decided to go for it. She was comfortable, confident and ready to make a grand entrance. So as she made her last pass around the outside of the house, she headed for the window. Her arms were spread straight in front of her, her body stiff as a board as she headed for the opening. She slowed down as much as she could, moving very cautiously, tightening every muscle in her body. But just then the wind kicked up and blew her cape in front of her face, blinding her just as she reached the house.
Voltage's arms dipped, causing her body to veer off course and miss the window. Blinded by her own cape, she was unable to anticipate the impact, causing her to fly straight into the wall, taking the brunt of the blow on the top of her head. The impact made a loud THUD, causing Voltage to lose her balance and tumble into a thorn bush, two stories below. The sound of the crash could not be heard inside as she landed roughly into the shrub, scratching her bare skin in the process. Her legs were spread awkwardly up and over her head as the cape covered her face while she kicked her legs and scrambled to escape the clutches of the hedge.
Finally she was able to free herself and roll onto the floor, embarrassed and bruised, though happy not to have any witnesses to her clumsiness. It took her about 10 minutes to get her wits about her, but once she did, undeterred, she brushed herself off and leaped back up, grabbing onto the window ledge and pulling herself in through the window. As she got to her feet, Voltage was immediately confronted with the action. Directly in front of her, one of the men was finishing the knot on his victims' gag, while two others were on either side of the room, emptying jewelry boxes.
The man directly in front of Voltage made the first move, finishing the knot before rushing at her. Voltage stood her ground and then kicked her leg up, plunging the sole of her boot into his stomach before driving forward and sending him smashing into the wall behind him. His head snapped back and crashed against the wall, his arms out to his sides as he withered to the ground. Next, two other men came up on either side of her and tersely grabbed hold of each of her wrists, pulling her arms out to her sides, forcefully trying to stretch her apart.
But Voltage quickly pulled both of her arms forward, whipping the two men directly toward each other in front of her. They collided, driving the top of their heads into each other before faltering to the floor at her feet. Voltage smiled at her accomplishment before turning her attention toward the bound woman, not realizing that she had one more foe to worry about. As Voltage walked forward however, she noticed the woman's eyes widening, trying to alert her to the impending trouble. But before Voltage could react, she was struck on the back of her head with a large, rounded shovel. The sound of the metal shovel striking her head made a loud CLANG, and instantly knocked her unconscious.
Voltage collapsed into a heap, her cape covering most of her body as the leader of the gang stepped forward, slapping the shaft of the shovel into her open hand and smiling. She was wearing the same outfit she had during their previous run ins, the long trench coat, with a pair of tight silk shorts, halter top and knee high, stiletto boots underneath. Using the heel of her boot, she then rolled Voltage onto her back, stepping across her body while glaring down at the unconscious heroine. Gradually the three men got up, groggy and moaning, but conscious. They were instructed to gather up the rest of the valuables as the leader stood over Voltage, making sure that she remained out cold.
Once everything was loaded into the waiting van, the leader pulled the limp body of the heroine up by her cape. She then snapped her fingers and the third hoodlum came over and ducked his shoulder into her midsection, hoisting her body across his shoulder and carrying her out of the house. He slid open the side door of the cargo van and dumped her body down into it, her shoulders falling onto the bags of valuables inside the van, her arms falling back over her head as her legs dropped out of the van and fell awkwardly to the floor outside, her back arched.
The men then hopped into the van, Voltage's body hanging half in and half out as the leader walked calmly out of the house, closing the door behind her, still carrying the shovel. With Voltage's feet on the floor of the driveway but her body still sprawled inside of the van, she began to stir just as the leader approached. Noticing that the heroine was reviving, she walked up to her arched body and wickedly stomped the high heel of her leather boot into the wide open paunch of the bleary superhero. Voltage blubbered loudly as her head instinctively sprung up, only to be greeted with a violent SMACK from the back of the shovel, square into the middle of her forehead.
Once again Voltage fell backward, out cold. The leader whisked her legs into the van before jumping in herself and sliding the door closed behind her. They drove off, the leader seated directly over the super heroine, who was slouched out in the back, watching her every second. They began to drive toward the George Washington Bridge, which was virtually deserted at this time of night. It took awhile, but as they approached the bridge, Voltage began to stir once again. She was groggy and incoherent, certainly not a threat at this point, but that didn't stop the leader from subjecting her to more punishment.
She allowed Voltage to stir for a few moments until she finally opened her eyes. As Voltage looked up, all she could see was the image of a large, spiked heel, approaching her. In her weakened state, Voltage tried to lift her arms and push the boot away, but she was too weak and could not resist. The gap between the stiletto heel and the sole of the boot quickly began to press down onto her throat, cutting off her oxygen. Voltage began to flail her arms and kick her legs, but she could not free herself from the sexy choke. The other men looked on in glee as the diminutive super hero began to lose her strength, the protest becoming less and less vigorous. Finally she slumped back against the mound of bags, her arms falling lifelessly to her sides, unconscious once again.
The van pulled over in the center of the bridge, off to the side of the road and the back door quickly flew open. One of the men carried Voltage out onto the bridge over his shoulder, while the other two grabbed a thick bundle of rope, what looked like a harness and a large piece of steel machinery, like a hoist. They loaded it all onto the bridge's walkway as the leader leaped out of the van and closed the door behind her before it sped off, leaving two of the men, the leader and Voltage behind. The hoodlums carried Voltage onto the side walkway of the bridge, dumping her body down onto the cold, hard steel before they went to work.
The leader once again stood guard as the two men attached a series of straps to the side of the bridge and secured them tightly to the hoist. After about 20 minutes, satisfied that the workings were securely fastened, they turned their attention back to Voltage. First they tied a sash around her mouth as a gag, and then went to work on her legs. They tied her legs tightly together with rope before fastening the heavy harness around them, securing it tightly between her knees and ankles. They each pulled and yanked at it to ensure that it was tightly fastened, which seemed to stir Voltage and wake her again. But by this time she was already locked in as they began to pull her body up by the harness, turning a crank on the hoist.
Voltage hung down by her legs like a prize fish after a day of deep sea fishing, her arms dangling below her, bound tightly together at the wrists. Just as Voltage opened her eyes, Diva walked up next to her and one of the hoodlums snapped a picture, blinding the heroine with the flash. It looked like a scene from a fishing trip, snapping a photo with the prized catch which hung alongside it's conqueror.
Once Voltage's vision cleared, she was greeted with a fist into her bare belly, knocking the wind out of her. The creaking of the hoist broke the silence of the night as the heroine's body wavered back and forth, dangling upside down. She tried to cough, but the gag would not allow her to, causing her to retch. The diva then walked up in front of her and made sure that Voltage had a good view of who was doing this to her, before finally speaking to her victim.
"So you've got a name now eh? Well remember this Voltage. My name is Diva, and those who mess with me, end up like this...."
With that, Diva nodded her head to her gang, who swung Voltage's body out over the water, the arm of the hoist extending out over the cold, rough water. Voltage suffered a panic attack, her body dangling over the water, hundreds of feet below her as she looked down, seeing only darkness but hearing the waves breaking on the shore. Her eyes were wide open as she tried to wriggle her body, though that did no good at all. Finally, after keeping her dangling for several minutes to emphasize the peril, the entire gang began to count from 10. Once they reached 1.... Diva stuck out her thumb before turning it downward. She then kicked a latch on the side of the hoist, sending Voltage plummeting toward the water. The heroine became paralyzed with fear, assuming that she had just been dumped off of the bridge, about to meet her death.
There was a loud WHIRR as the rope unwound from the spool as Voltage plummeted toward the river. Just then the van pulled up again and the fourth hoodlum leaped out as Voltage's body continued to plunge toward the water. They all watched as the yellow superheroine disappeared out of site, a loud splash finally heard as the hoist creaked while straining to hold the weight. They all bowed over the railing and watched as the rubber cord tightened before yanking Voltage out of the water and ricocheting her back upward. She rose about half way back up, still conscious but seized with terror at this point. The water was freezing, her wet body dripping as it seemed to grind to a halt in midair before again descending into the murky Hudson River for a second time.
Again Voltage was dunked into the cold water, her entire body tingling like a million piercing stabs entering her body. She rose about a third of the way this time, the bungee cord going slack before her weight carried her down to the cold water once again. Voltage was saturated and still conscious, though in a sort of comatose state. Her skin was pocked with goosebumps and sickly, pale white. Again the cord tightened around her legs pulling her out of the water for the last time until finally the trapped super heroine's, cold, wet body was left to dangle, head over heels, about 20 feet above the water. The four villains laughed and screamed taunts down at her before jumping back into the van and screeching off into the night.
By now it was about 4:30 in the morning, and the rush hour would soon be underway. The plan had been prepared so masterfully however, that no one even noticed what had taken place until one of the ships on the river, which had passed under the bridge had caught a glimpse of the suspicious looking rope which hung down from the side of the bridge. But that wasn't until about 5:30, when the traffic helicopters had all taken off to begin the days reporting.
Word spread fast and before the authorities were able to rescue Voltage from her perilous position, several helicopters had begun to hover around her like vultures circling their prey. They filmed her dangling body, her cape hanging below her. They took close-ups, still shots and rolling video from every possible angle, all of which were immediately sent back to television stations for the breaking story on the morning's newscasts. Some newspapers even put a special late edition, featuring the dangling heroine on the front page, and most pages in between. It took the rescuers close to an hour to fully secure the hoist and pull Voltage's body back up and safely onto the bridge. By that time however her plight had been widely reported, and the traffic jam it created was one of the worst in history. The only saving grace was that Voltage had been able to keep her mask on through the entire ordeal, so no one could tell that Voltage was really Flora, her identity was safe so far. But that did not help ease the feeling of complete and utter humiliation she felt as she was tended to and gawked over on the bridge. Though she suffered from hypothermia and shock, she nonetheless was adamant about wanting to escape from the scene as quickly as possible. After about thirty minutes or so, when she had finally revived enough to be able to stand on her own, she was readied to be loaded into an ambulance. When Voltage refused, the paramedics insisted, which forced her to take matters into her own hands. She pushed herself free, ran through a crowd of people and with a deep breath, jumped up and began to fly away.
All of the on lookers gasped as they watched her float away, pointing and staring as she ascended, amazed at the sight. But mercilessly, even at this moment, Voltage still could not escape further humiliation. Unable to keep control, she slammed into the side of the bridge, falling several feet before she was able to regain control and continue to fly away.
As she flew on, trying to avoid any further humiliation, she began to cry. When this night had begun, she was feeling so confident, so self assured. With her new costume on, she assumed that the first pictures of her captured by the media would be something she could be proud of. Voltage would be proclaimed a hero to all of the young girls, the envy of all of the women and the desire of all of the men. But instead, the headline on the first newspaper which came out that morning showed her dripping, dangling body as it hung off of the bridge, with the headline....
"A new force in the fight against crime? Nah... she's nothing but LOW VOLTAGE!"