Missions of Supergirl - #31: Bats 'n Rats 'n Cats

The Dark Knight slaps the heroine's cheek. Only his iron will prevents hiim from hopping around on the terrace, shaking his hand in pain, and howling like a chimpanzee on acid. "Christ that hurt!" he thinks, keeping his eyes locked on hers. "And where were YOU when she needed help?" Batman asks the Maid of Might. "Robin tried to help her but the kids just didn't have enough experience to deal with Joker. Your muscles would have been handy, you know!" The implication that her brain would not have helped is like another slap in the face for the Girl of Steel.

"I ... I went looking for Ivy," Supergirl replies, tears in her eyes at his cruel insinuation.

"For Ivy, or for your costume?" Batman snaps. "Batgirl told me that Ivy took her costume and yours. You're not wearing yours, and Ivy isn't in jail, so just what did you do, 'heroine'? And how did you plan to stop Ivy since she has a source of green K in her possession?"

"I knew ... that is, Lex ..." she stammers, stunned by his revelations. "He knows!" she thinks. "Bar- uh, Batgirl was going to help me ..."

"Barbara told me everything, Supergirl," the Caped Crusader says in a level voice. "Obviously getting your costume back was more important than helping her."

Supergirl stands mute for several seconds. "How long have you known about Barbara?"

"Oh, please," he snarls. "Jim Gordon's been my friend for decades. I watched her grow up. I knew who she was after a few meetings. I know the girl. But she didn't want to tell me, so I respected her privacy. How do you think a librarian could afford all the gear she had as a crimefighter? Her guardian 'Uncle' was funneling money to her, giving her the latest equipment for her arsenal. I loved her, sure, but as a step-daughter I was thrilled to see succeed. I never wanted to see her hurt ..."

"Then why weren't you there for her?"

"Why weren't YOU?"

America's Darling looks at the Dark Knight's face and finally sees a genuine concern in his face for Batgirl's wishes. He's as broken up by her injury as she is. "Oh-okay, Batman," Supergirl finally replies, lowering her arm. "Maybe we can settle this later." Before the Caped Crusader can say or do anything else, Supergirl leaps into the air and flies away in the dark night sky.

"Not likely, Kara," he says grimly, watching her disappear in the darkness.

The Girl of Steel slips into reporter Clark Kent's apartment using the hidden entrance he uses as Superman. A quick look with her super vision reveals he's not here. The day planner on his desk is open on a date three weeks ago. The Maid of Might slowly realizes that something must have happened to the Man of Steel again. He's been captured twice by MixMaster but she probably doesn't have him know - the Girl of Steel was just with the villainess and she didn't gloat about capturing him again. So someone else must have him captive - Luthor? Intergang? Poison Ivy?* No, not Ivy. She got the Kryptonian plant after he disappeared.

The Maid of Might slowly removes a boot from a pouch in her cape - part of her old costume which Ivy sold to Luthor a week ago. Since then, she's been tormented, assaulted and brutally abused by Mercy Graves, the villain's aide. But Mercy DID return this part of her old costume for going on a 'date' with her. Inside the boot is almost ten thousand dollars Supergirl 'earned' on the date by stripping in a club, then letting Mercy play dominatrix in a BD/SM club.* The money will go to the Humane Society in the morning. Right now, the Girl of Steel needs sleep more than anything else. The last few days have been non-stop combat with Meteorite and then MixMaster, and all-consuming sexcapades with Mercy. Supergirl drops the boot by the living room cocktail table.

The Girl of Steel feels drained and weak from all her exertions. She slowly trudges into Clark's spare bedroom and stops beside the bed. She peels off the long gloves and wonders, "Maybe I should stop wearing these." She drops them onto the chair beside the bed. She opens the clasp on her yellow belt and drops it on the chair. She then turns and sits on the bed and slowly pulls off each of her boots, dropping them on the floor beside the chair. Finally, she rises to her feet again and pulls apart the neck of the leotard (something requiring great strength) and slips it and the cape down her body, past her taut breasts, past her blond mound, and down her well-muscled legs. She drapes the outfit over the back of the chair and drops onto the bed. In a few moments, she's asleep.

"Mr. Kent, are you in here?" a high-pitched voice softly asks. The front door to the apartment opens and young James Olsen, cub reporter for the Daily Planet, slowly enters. Early morning sunlight floods into the living room through the windows.

"Uh, Mr. Kent, the Chief has been looking for you ..." Olsen says, moving slowly through the apartment. He spots but doesn't touch the red boot lying on the floor by the coffee table. "Kinky," he thinks. The young man turns down the short corridor toward Kent's bedroom and suddenly stops. With a loud gasp. In the spare bedroom there's a figure lying on the bed. Her back faces the door. Olsen can see blond hair and heart-stopping curves. He can also see a blue outfit draped over the chair beside the bed.

"Supergirl?" he whispers in a hushed voice, awed by the lovely naked figure apparently asleep. "Golly, if it is her, I wonder what she's doin' here when Mr. Kent isn't around?" Jimmy wonders as he backs away from the doorway. Looking in on her nude body doesn't seem right, somehow. He quickly steps down the hall to check Kent's bedroom but the man isn't in there. Curiouser and curiouser!

Like a cat, the young redhead tiptoes back down the hall. When he reaches the door to the spare bedroom, his eyes are irresistibly drawn to look inside. "Oh ... my ... God!" he gasps. The blonde has rolled over and now lies on her back, one leg slightly bent, clearly displaying her taut breasts and golden bush. Her face is turned toward the doorway. Her eyes are closed. Her breasts rise and fall slowly as she breathes. One hand rests on her tight stomach, the other lies beside her creamy white thigh. Jimmy stares at the incredible vision before his eyes and senses a powerful erection forming. "Whoever she is, she's like a goddess," he thinks.

Olsen finally manages to wrench his mind off the sleeping blonde and back onto his mission to find Clark. The 21 year old youth turns to go back into the living room and manages to take two steps before his leg hits an end table, toppling the lamp with a loud crash. He falls over the table and lands hard on his forehead, his ass perched on the end table.

Olsen can't move - he wracked his balls when he hit the end table and as he lies across the table, moaning, he can hear noise coming from the spare bedroom. "Nuts!" he curses. "I hope she ain't a villain - or somethin' worse!"

He suddenly feels himself being lifted off the end table by his shirt - he can feel a hand holding him by the collar like a kitten. The powerful hand slowly turns him around until he's eye-to-eye with the drop-dead gorgeous blonde known as Supergirl. "Unh, I, uh, that is ..." he stammers helplessly.

"Hi, Jimmy," the woman says, smiling at the young man. Well, there's only a few years difference in their ages - she's maybe 23 or 24, by Earth reckoning. "Long time no see."

Olsen is speechless. She still has no clothes on. And she's obviously the Girl of Steel. Jimmy finally stammers, "Uh, hi, Supergirl. So, you know Mr. Kent, huh?" Olsen says. "Dumb, dumb DUMB!!" he thinks. Then he suddenly blushes - why would stuffy old Kent have a superheroine sleeping in his apartment. When he's not around. Nude! Is she his girlfriend? Doesn't he like Lois Lane? They fight enough. The perplexed look on Olsen's face suddenly makes Supergirl laugh - her first good laugh since she and Barbara ...

The Girl of Steel releases her hold on Olsen's collar and he drops an inch or so to land on his feet. Her lovely smile and laugh ends almost as soon as it starts. He feels he should say something, ask her something, but he can't even THINK of approaching her with the huge erection in his pants.

"I've known Clark for a few years now, Jimmy," Supergirl says with a thin smile for the stunned young man. "He gave me a key some time back and said I was welcome to stay here when I'm in Metropolis, whether he's here or not. But don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, whatever you say, Supergirl," Olsen says, nodding his like his neck is broken. "Um, don't ... don't you think you should get dressed?" he manages to ask. The freckles on his face seem to close ranks - his entire face reddens like a ripe tomato.

The Girl of Steel playfully moves closer to the youth and he backs away, falling over the end table and landing on his back on the couch, his legs flailing in the air. "Boys usually want to see me in that position, Jimmy," the Maid of Might says, laughing at Olsen and the massive tent on the front of his slacks. She turns and heads back into the bedroom as the cub reporter scrambles back to his feet. Just in time to see her bare backside enter the bedroom.

"So, what's with the new costume, Supergirl?" Olsen asks the blonde when she rejoins him in the living room a few minutes later.

"Call me Kara, Jimmy," she says, smiling again at the young redhead. After taking a hot shower and cleaning her costume under the hot spray, the Girl of Steel dried it with her heat vision and dressed. Now both are sitting in the living room, she on Clark's chair, Olsen on the couch.

"This new costume - it's a long story, Jimmy," Supergirl says, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Tell me about Batgirl's injuries, the League, whatever you can, okay?"

For the next half hour, the cub reporter tells the Maid of Might everything he knows about Batgirl's injury. Like everyone else, he doesn't know where Batman took her. He has no idea where the Joker might be. He pauses from time to time when he sees her eyes mist up, as if she's trying not to cry. He finally reaches a point where he can ask Supergirl whether she knows where Kent is. Or Superman.

"Superman is busy on a secret mission," Supergirl lies, deciding she should investigate his absence. "I have no idea where Mr. Kent is. He wasn't here when I arrived last night. He's close to Superman - maybe he's trying to find Kal-el, too. Why don't we look on his desk for clues?"

The two spend a few minutes looking at Kent's desk and computer. Jimmy can barely keep his mind on his work with the gorgeous blonde in the skin-tight blue outfit so close to him. She smells fabulous. And, much to his chagrin, he can see and feel a lot of pre-cum on his pants.

While Jimmy is seated at Kent's computer, scanning his e-mail for clues, the Girl of Steel moves behind the kid and presses her body against his back. Olsen begins to sweat - he can feel her golden mound pressing against his back! His eyes get blurry and a case of 'fat fingers' makes his typing sloppy and useless. He finally has to pause and breathe deeply to regain control. "Doesn't she even realize what she's doing to me?" he asks himself. Olsen gasps when her two gloved hands suddenly land on his shoulders and her fingers begin to dig into his strained muscles. "That feels sssooOOOOO good," he thinks, his head rolling around as she shakes his body.

"Jimmy, do you think maybe you might like me?" Supergirl asks Olsen in a soft, vulnerable voice. A gloved hand caresses the side of his head, drawing slowly across his ear and down onto his neck. Goose bumps cover his upper body at her touch. Her other hand rests gently on his shoulder.

"Are you KIDDING?" he blurts out, trying to turn his head. She stops caressing him and lets him turn in his seat. Looks like his penis is going to burn a hole in his pants to get out! Olsen rises to his feet, then regrets his move because he's now almost pressing against her body. His mind races with thoughts - does she know I'm hard? Does SHE want ME? Is that her body I can feel with the head of my dick? How does one even make out with a Kryptonian? Do they have the same parts we do?

"Jimmy, I'm going through a rough time now and I need a friend," she says, her voice almost breaking up. "Can ... can you hold me for a while?" she asks the younger man. Olsen nods and reaches his arms around her, resting his palms on her shoulder blades, against her cape. He gently tugs her body and she seems to collapse into him. Her steel-hard breasts are almost painful as they press against his chest. Suddenly the Maid of Might seems to deflate like a blow-up doll, sagging in his arms, crying. "I miss her soo much!" she cries. Her gloved hands reach behind Olsen's back and she hugs him gently but firmly.

"Her?" Olsen thinks, "Batgirl? Why is she crying about Batgirl? What does she mean?"

"I barely know him, and here he's comforting me," Supergirl thinks to herself as she cries into Olsen's shoulder. "I don't think Mercy would do this for me. I don't think anyone else would do this. Maybe Britannia, but she's so far away. I wish I could talk to Barbara - even if only for a few minutes!" She thinks her heart might explode with the ache of Barbara's loss. Damnit, she isn't even dead! And what about cousin Kal-el?

"Sheesh, what do I do now?" Olsen wonders as this suddenly vulnerable superheroine hangs against him, her cheek on his shoulder, crying softly. His erection shrinks in pity and he limits himself to holding her tightly against his body, glad that her breasts are no longer digging into his chest.

An eternity later, her crying stops and she just leans against the lad, breathing deeply. "Are you all right now?" Jimmy asks tentatively, aware that he wants this moment to last forever.

"I'm fine, Jimmy, thanks," Kara Zor-el of Krypton answers the young Earthman. She slowly pulls away from him and looks at his eyes - both are about 5'8" tall. Her cheeks are streaked from her tears, her nose is red, but to Olsen, she's still a goddess. Supergirl leans forward and softly brushes her moist red lips against his, like a feather. He pulls her closer again and holds her tightly. Her tongue slips out between her teeth and presses against his lips. A heartbeat later, Jimmy parts his lips and his tongue meets hers in the timeless 'fight' for control and dominance. Supergirl moans and lets the lad thrust his tongue into her mouth where he aggressively kisses the mighty heroine. Another moan, deeper and more throaty escapes from her mouth and Olsen suddenly squeezes her against his body, despite the pain of her tough tits against his chest. "Oohhhhh," she moans as her mind suddenly begins crafting images of her 'helplessness' in his arms, of his tongue forcing its way into her mouth, and of the 'threat' of his hard manhood pressing against her thigh, just below her womanhood.

Her mind swirls in complex patterns of themes of submission, rape, and helplessness despite the fact that she could crush him like a bug with her little finger. When Jimmy begins to push her backward, toward the spare bedroom, Kara Zor-el meekly lets him guide her. A second later, when the back of her knees hits the edge of the bed, she stops and begins to rapidly move one of her hands across the back of his neck, down his narrow back, and then around to the front of his pants over his crotch. Her other hand stops and rests against the lad's chest. Now Jimmy moans as she grabs his penis through his Dockers®.

As her mind fantasizes about being 'taken' by this younger, significantly weaker human, the lad also fantasizes. He sees himself as suddenly a 'Master of the Universe' - after all, isn't the most powerful woman on the planet moaning and panting in his hands? They stand beside the bed for a minute or two when Jimmy, emboldened by his own fantasy, asks Kara in a deep voice, "Can I take off your costume?"

"Oohhh, yes, Jimmy," she purrs, holding her hands up before his chest. "Why don't you start here?" she says in a sultry low voice. Olsen slowly rolls her left glove upward, off her forearm, past her wrist and off her hand. He then does the same slow move with her right hand. When he finishes removing it, he tosses both gloves to the chair by the bed, then cups her hands in his. He lifts them up and slowly begins to kiss the backs of her hands. Then he begins to tickle her fingers by flicking his tongue at them. Finally, he nibbles on her fingers. Supergirl's eyes close and she moans softly from his attention.

After playing with her hands for a few seconds, Olsen unbuckles her belt and slowly removes it, then tosses it onto the chair with one hand as his other hand draws lazy circles around her belly, moving close both to the bottom of her breasts and to the top of her groin. More groans tell him he's on the right track, so as his left hand continues its broad sweeps, his right hand suddenly reaches up to cup and gently squeeze her left breast. The blue-clad body of the Girl of Steel shudders from his actions and her head sways slightly, eyes still closed.

Jimmy slowly drags his hands down her sides, over her thighs, briefly across her crotch, then down the inside of her legs. Each move makes her body tremble in anticipation. Olsen finally has his hands around her knees and begins to lift her left leg off the floor. With a strenuous effort, he tries to remove her boot but can't. "Let me do it from here, okay?" she says to him. She untangles her hands from Jimmy's body and moves with eye-blurring speed removing her boots, unitard and cape. In a nano-second, her naked body again stands before the young journalist.

"Can ... can you undress me?" he asks in a shaky voice, awed that the woman is again nude, but now is obviously going to have sex with him.

"Yes," she says softly. She begins by unbuttoning his shirt, then unhooking his belt. Jimmy struggles out of his shirt and undershirt as the Girl of Steel slowly lowers his pants and cottony white briefs to the floor, stroking the insides of his legs as his garments slide down his legs. After lowering his pants and briefs, she helps him step out of them and his shoes. Together they fall back onto the bed. Supergirl uses her flying ability to make it a gentle fall, with Olsen landing atop her creamy white body. She can feel the scratchy wool socks on his feet rubbing against her own feet.

Olsen gently slides one hand up behind her neck to help him kiss the heroine - long, slow, deeply penetrating kisses that make both of them moan. His other hand slides down to caress her right breast. He runs slow, gentle circles around the mound, which seems soft despite the super muscles beneath. He drags the palm of his hand over her swollen nipple and the woman purrs softly from his touch. Emboldened, Jimmy grabs her nipple between his finger and thumb and squeezes it gently. No response. He squeezes harder but still gets no response. Finally he squeezes it with all his strength and is rewarded by having Supergirl squirm under him. Meanwhile, her hands caress his back in long sweeps and after one sweep, her left hand continues down to caress his butt. The only sounds in the apartment are their soft moans and cries as each arouses the other's body.

The Girl of Steel suddenly has a revelation. She can feel Jimmy's loving caresses, his gentle strokes, his sweet kisses. She knows he's working like a good, gentle lover. And yet, her passion is slipping faster than the Titanic on its last dive. She's no longer able to spin images in her mind of a villain 'taking' her. This 'lover' is too gentle, too caring. She can't get into this - gentle love-making doesn't make her blood boil. Even as his short penis slips between her legs and brushes against her nether lips, her mind screams "This isn't working!!" And as Olsen struggles to spread her legs apart, she suddenly realizes that he can't fulfill her with his tender treatment. "Great Rao, I need to feel danger, pain, abuse, fear of domination! I AM sick!"

Olsen's penis begins to penetrate her love canal when she suddenly says, "I'm ... I'm really sorry, Jimmy, but this just isn't working for me." She lifts him off her body and puts him down beside her, face down. Dribbling pre-cum from his manhood trickles onto the sheets beneath his body and confusion floods his mind.

"Unnh, is ... is it something I did?" the confused youngster asks. "What just happened here?" he wonders. She was passionate and responsive, then, like a switch being flicked, she was no longer interested in him. Lying beside the super woman, he has one arm on her belly and his head is turned to look at the side of her face. She's looking up at the ceiling.

"NO. Gods of Krypton NO, Jimmy, you're sweet," she replies, turning her head to face his. "I just can't do this. Now. With you. And it's not you, Jimmy, it's me." She slides his right arm off her body and slips away from him and out of bed. In seconds, she's back in her super costume and beside the bed, looking down at the nude redhead. "I'm really sorry, but I have to leave," she tells him as she turns and leaves the bedroom.

"But ... but ..." Jimmy stammers as his body mashes his huge (well, 6") tool against the sheets. Before he can even turn over, he knows she's no longer in the apartment. She already gone - somehow.

Midday and the Girl of Steel flies across the Metropolis skyline toward the city center. While checking Clark's desk and dayplanner she saw something on the day before the last page. Just one word - 'King' and a time. Seconds later she gently lands on the helipad atop the Metropolis Federal Center. Moving quickly, the Girl of Steel enters the building via a rooftop door and goes down to the floor with FBI offices. She stops outside the office of local FBI Agent-in-Charge, Mark King and enters his foyer. "I need to see Agent King," she tells the receptionist. The young woman hits a buzzer and tells Supergirl to enter his office.

"Supergirl!" King says, rising from his chair as the blonde enters. He's a mousy little man with a permanent bad-hair-day crop of bare skull and tufts of hair. "Then you got my call for help! Is that a new costume?" The man used to enjoy watching her land on the helipad - her skirt would fly up just before landing, showing the thin strip of blue fabric covering her sweet spot. Can't do that with this body suit on!

"No, not actually, I didn't get your call," she replies, sitting in a chair across from the man's desk, "and this costume is just temporary." King continues to stand, his eyes sweeping the length of her blue-clad body, literally devouring this vision of beauty. "I'm looking for Superman and I believe you may be among the last people he met with before he disappeared."

"Hmm, I hope not, Supergirl," King says, returning to his seat. "We met about three weeks ago and I told him about a possible white slavery problem ..."

"I thought we handled that?" she asks, recalling her efforts to break up Luthor's body-snatching.*

"Um, well, yes, that's ... that's not the one, Supergirl," he says. "The word on the street, which I passed to Superman, was that there was going to be a major auction for only the wealthiest American and foreign buyers of ... of humans. Superman said he'd look into our leads. Then he dropped off the radar, so to speak."

"What else do you know?" she asks. "Anything I can do to follow his trail?"

"All we have is an address out on Short Island Sound - here," he says, handing her a post-it note with an address on the waterfront. Not the seedy part of Metropolis, but an area of cruise line ships and large pleasure yachts. "And there's a fairly reliable snitch on Eighth and L streets - in the alley near that intersection.

"I'll see what I can find," she promises the Agent as she rises from the chair. When she reaches the door, she looks back at Agent King and asks, "Anything else?"

"Come back."

Nine people wearing business attire and gray hoods sit around a long wooden conference table in a Metropolis high rise office building. Closed curtains make the room very dark, except for low lamps before each seat. Their heads are hidden in the deep shadows cast by the lamps. This is the ruling council for the infamous InterGang. In addition to the Chairman, there are four 'functional chiefs' who head criminal activities in the areas of Physical Damage, Extortion, Theft and Controlled Substances. Four others are 'support chiefs' in charge of Finances, Information, Logistics and Research. Hundreds of criminal activities begin here. Criminals controlled by one chief are 'loaned' to another, as needed, for special operations. InterGang runs like a large corporation. Superman has tried for years to close down InterGang, but has had no success. Today, two others are sitting at the foot of the table, guests of Theft.

"Proceed with your final update," the Chairman says, nodding at the criminal 'division chief'. "This is your operation."

"Thank you, sir," the woman says, rising to her feet. A screen behind the guests brightens and a PowerPoint© slide show begins, showing operating costs for the annual 'White Elephant Sale'. "I think this year will be a banner year for our, umm, for our 'Super White Elephant Sale', ladies and gentlemen," she chuckles as she begins. A new picture flashes on the screen and several people around the room gasp in surprise. "As you know, once a year we sell to our, uh, discriminating clients, unique, one-of-a-kind items and people. You have a complete list of items for sale in your packets. I just want to point out our star attractions.

"First, obviously, is none other than the Man of Steel himself," she gloats, staring at his image on the screen. Superman is seated on a cot. There is no apparent restraints, no green K, yet he sits docilely, hands folded on his laps.

"Wow, is he drugged or something?" Logistics asks in awe.

"I think I'll let Mr. Wu from Research field that. Mr Wu?"

A thin Chinese man, one of the guests, clears his throat and says, "Superman has been a thorn in our sides for many years. Research has been exploring ways to get him out of the way without arousing the anger of other heroes. I began to think outside the box - green K would kill him, of course, but there might be repurcussions. Then too, we don't have much on hand. What if he just ... disappeared?"

"Get to the point, Wu," the Chairman scolds.

"Yes sir, of course," the man answers, shaking in his boots. "Long story short, about a month ago, while talking with my friend Jensen in Legal, he told me of an organization called Wolfram and Hart. Lawyers!"

"So whad dey do, t'reaten him wit' a lawsuit?' Physical Damage asks, laughing uproariously at his joke.

"No, it seems they have, um, special contacts. Contacts skilled in the dark arts, as it were. They gave us a gentleman they call an 'expediter' and the services of two, well, two demons - Shurinami demons, in fact ..."

The room breaks out into a horde of voices all talking at once. The Chairman bangs his gavel several times before the leaders of Intergang finally settle down. "Continue, Mr. Wu," he says, "wrap this up, if you please."

"Yes sir," the man replies, running his finger through the collar of his $400 shirt. "We leaked word to several of our snitches that we had a big slavery operation on Pier 18. When Superman showed up to bust us, Ms. Jackson, here, from Wolfram and Hart," Wu says, pointing at the woman beside him "had her ... people in our warehouse waiting. While the demons kept Superman busy in combat, the expediter used a magic spell to immobilize the hero. Then he put a collar around his neck. The magics in the collar rob Superman of his will to act. He will only do what he's told to do. And only if told by the person who holds a special amulet. The amulet and the team from Wolfram and Hart are at the warehouse, riding herd on our 'property'."

Again bedlam breaks loose as everyone tries to talk. Again the Chairman bangs the gavel for silence. "And you're sure he's not faking it?"

"Oh, not a chance, sir," Wu replies confidently. "We had him doing unnatural stuff - masturbating, eating his own shit, that kind of debasing stuff. Passed every test. Besides, everyone knows he can't fight magic. Whoever buys him gets him intact, muscles and all, to control and do whatever is desired."

"And what does Wolfram and Hart get from us for their services?" Extortion asks.

"Um, we need to help them with a troublesome vampire out in L.A.," Wu replies.

"Okay, so who else do you have?" the Chairman asks impatiently.

Wu continues to describe others being held in the warehouse. Apparently this IS going to be a 'Super' sale!

Almost two hours after sunset, the Girl of Steel hovers over the warehouse on Pier 18 and scans it with her super vision. The whole basement level is shielded by lead and yellow paint. No hero on the planet can see whatever is beneath the warehouse. This makes the whole thing very fishy. Suddenly a column of limos begins arriving at the entrance of the building. Men in tuxedos and women in expensive gowns all leave their rides and enter the warehouse. Inside, the guests mingle around open bars and waiting persons with trays of nibbles.

"That smelly little man was right, there is something going down here tonight," the Maid of Might muses. There must be forty men with guns down there, plus heavy weapons on the roof. Suddenly she gasps as she recognizes some of the people spilling out of the stretch limos - millionaire Bruce Wayne with a young kid, Lex Luthor (with Mercy dressed in black leather and driving his stretch lime and Misty in a gorgeous gown and on his arm!!), that Welsh actress with her old actor-father (er, husband, that is), the big-busted blonde who had a detective show on the air last year, the female CEO of a Fortune 500 company - so on and so on.

"Those people must be worth a cool several billion dollars," Supergirl whistles softly to herself. "I can't just bust in on this - it might be just a rave for rich old geezers or some other lame event. I'd better just watch."

"Well, well, Luthor, I guess I should have imagined that I'd run into you here," millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne says to the tall, bald and vicious criminal mastermind. "And who might this be? Has Mercy been replaced?"

"No, Wayne, Mercy still works for me," Luthor replies. "She's still my driver and aide. This is, uh, my niece."

"Does she have a name, or just an hourly rate, Lex?" Wayne taunts the tall villain. The young woman, in a silver floor-length satin gown that hugs every curve of her body from bust to past her hips bristles at Wayne's crude behavior.

"I ain't no whore, you ..." Misty snarls at the tall, dark-haired man. She starts to move toward him, raising her hands into tight little fists.

"Gently, child," Lex says, placing his hand on her arm. "We're not here to fight. We're here to pick up 'bargains'. And do I need to remind you that you're wearing a $4,000 Versace original and almost $50,000 worth of jewelry?" Misty glares at Lex, then Bruce, then Lex again, but steps backward to Luthor's side.

"How about you, Bruce?" Lex says, a smile replacing the frown on his face. "Cat got your tongue, tonight?"

"Good one, Lex," Wayne replies, smiling. "I was just here to pick up some electronics that 'disappeared' from my labs. I got them back - my youthful ward Dick Grayson just took them out to our car. Thought I'd stick around for this show. Heard there might be some surprises."

"Not likely, Bruce," Luthor explains. "Those collars on the necks of Superman and the other super boob keeps them nice and docile. That guy in the brown hood back in the corner has kind of talisman or something that prevents them from taking any action he doesn't order. They're tame. They'd make anyone nice pets, I think."

"You would," Wayne says, a touch too bitterly.

For the next hour and a half, the Girl of Steel floats over the building and watches the action inside. There seems to be an auction under way inside the warehouse. Military equipment, books, scientific or electronic gizmos all appear and are sold quickly by a skilled auctioneer. Finally, the house lights dim and a door opens at the back side of the stage. Supergirl's gloved hand rises to cover her mouth when five figures cross the stage and stand before the audience. Superman, Catwoman, the Joker, Poison Ivy, and another woman in a costume! "What the heck is going on down there?" Supergirl asks herself as she focuses her super vision on the stage and eavesdrops with her super hearing. The unknow woman moves to the front of the stage.

"... and she hails from Dallas, Texas," Supergirl hears the auctioneer describe the strange brunette woman seconds later. The woman has on a pair of dark blue/black spandex tights that accentuate every curve on her well-muscled legs, a long-sleeved spandex top of the same color barely containing her full, round breasts. A pair of light blue shorts contrast nicely with the darker blue of her costume. She has a red nylon web belt with three (empty) pouches on it and a pair of brown calf-high leather boots with three inch heels. A black silk band with holes for her eyes is tied behind her head with her hair cascading over the band so only the front part of the mask is visible. There is also a silver collar around her neck - a copy, Supergirl quickly realizes, of the collar around Superman's neck.

"That must be why he's not resisting them!" the Maid of Might hisses. Further examination reveals nothing - she can't see inside the collar. But she also doesn't see any green K radiation around the Man of Steel. "So if I get off the collars ..." she thinks.

"She's invulnerable, has the strength of maybe ten strong men, and has cat-like reflexes," the caller continues. "Merrroowww!! Let's not have a catfight here, eh, Catwoman?" The crowd laughs nervously at his jest. One of the guards approaches her, aims a 9mm Glock at her belly, and fires off three rounds. The bullets bounce off her taut abs and she staggers back a few steps from the impact, but the only damage is to her costume. "So what am I bid for this budding super heroine who calls herself Raven and works for the Super Hero Foundation down in the Big D?"

As the bidding for Raven tops a million dollars, Joker yells out at the crowd, "PEOPLE! I'm one of YOU!! I should be out there bidding, sampling the caviar and drinking champers! C'mon, let the ol' Jokester free, whaddaya say! Hehehe HAHAHAH HAHAHA!!"

"I wonder what the Justice League would pay me for him?" Lex asks Wayne.

"Dead or alive?"

"Whatever."

"Great Rao, that's some kind of slave auction down there!" Supergirl realizes. "Lucky those bullets bounced off that girl. I couldn't get down there fast enough to help her! I think I'd better start changing the odds before it's too late!"

The blue flash is almost invisible to the guards around the warehouse - bright lights have destroyed their night vision. Several have Army-issue AN/AVS-6 Aviator's Night-Vision Imaging systems/goggles (ANVIS), but not all. The Girl of Steel flies by the guards at super speed and taps each one on the side of his or her head, knocking the guard out. First the ones with the ANVIS goggles, then the guards on the roof, and finally those on the sides and back of the building. During a last slow sweep around the warehouse, she uses her heat vision to melt all the weapons, rendering them useless against her or anyone else.

Five seconds later she lands on the roof in time to see the Raven heroine being led off the stage and toward a tall blond-haired man. The woman walks meekly toward the man. One of the guards on the stage approaches the hooded figure, gets something from him, and takes it to the buyer. The pair head offstage and Poison Ivy, heavily-shackled, moves toward the front of the stage.

"Our next attraction is Dr. Pamela Isley, also known as the criminal Poison Ivy," the auctioneer says as he stands beside the 5'6" tall woman. Ivy is wearing her costume, a green body suit, green gloves, brown ankle boots and a green mask over her eyes. Thick cuffs on her wrists and ankles, and a heavy chain linking them all together, bind the villainess. Normally she would have flowers or leaves in her hair and around her body but the Intergang slavers decided to take no chances and removed all her floral accoutrements. They also gagged her with a ball gag lest she try to seduce her guards to free her. She can manipulate men like a modern-day Circe. "She is a world-reknown botanist," the auctioneer says, waving a hand at Ivy. "She can turn your arid desert into a fetid jungle with her plant skills. Or if your country is already a jungle, she can make an army for you, out of the jungle itself! But watch out, folks - her touch is toxic!"

Heated bidding for the villainess begins but Supergirl focuses her attention on her cousin, the people on the stage, and the guards around the edge of the bidders. Twelve men with weapons, two huge ... creatures behind the curtains, an ugly looking brute in the brown hood, and, of course, three super villains. Piece of cake!

"I need to take out the hooded guy first, then free Superman, then help him get away," the Girl of Steel decides, planning her attack on the auction. "I don't want anyone in the crowd to get hurt, but they're probably all criminals anyway - who else would come to a slave auction!"

The bidding passes ten million dollars when the roof above the stage explodes inward. A blue streak dives down toward the stage and veers at the last second, heading toward the hooded figure. Before he/she/it can react, the Maid of Might hits his body with two fists and blasts him/her/it backward through the curtain. Supergirl hovers a foot over the stage, looking at the hooded figure, but the figure lies still on the floor. The two Shurinami demons start to move toward her, then turn back toward the thing in the hood. The Girl of Steel spins around and jets across the stage, grabbing Superman in one hand and Joker in the other. Holding the two by their waists, the heroine flashes up through the hole in the roof and away from the warehouse. After just fifteen seconds of action, she's freed her cousin and captured the Joker! She lands several miles away from the warehouse and uses her super strength to break the collar off the Man of Steel. Supergirl grunts and strains but can't break the strange metal. For some reason, the Man of Steel stands silent, unmoving, like a human statue.

"Damn, it must be magic!" she realizes. No response from her cousin. "What's wrong with him! I guess I'll need the hooded guy to remove it," she decides. Supergirl grabs Joker, flies up a few feet, and puts the Clown Prince of Crime on a high branch in a tree. "You'll be safe here until I return," she says, smiling at the confused villain.

"What if you don't come back?"

"Talk nice to the birdies and maybe they'll share their worms with you," she answers, rocketing back toward the warehouse. "Just don't let squirrels see you - they like nuts, you know!"

Inside the warehouse, pandemonium has erupted. People are off their chairs and pushing and shoving to get out of the building. In the confusion, Bruce Wayne moves away from Luthor and his 'niece' and in a secluded alcove, removes the wide cummerbund around his waist, revealing Batman's utility belt. Wayne pulls a Batman hood from one pouch and covers his head in one smooth act, concealing his identity, he hopes. He uses a batarang from a second pouch to knock out the tall blond guy leading away the superheroine called Raven. Batman rushes over to the woman and struggles to remove her collar.

"The amulet!" she hisses at the Dark Knight. "A guy gave an amulet to Blondie, here. Said to protect it to keep me under control. Maybe if you smash it ..."

"Thanks," the Caped Crusader replies. He fishes in Blondie's pockets for a moment and pulls out an ugly piece of wood with arcane carvings on it. Batman drops it to the floor and pulls a small vial of acid from another pouch. He dumps half of it on the amulet and the arcane object begins to smoke furiously. A heartbeat later, the collar around Raven's neck shimmers and vanishes as the amulet puddles on the floor.

"From the mask, I'd say you're Batman," the brunette says. "I'm Raven, a good guy."

"Right. Sorry, but I've never heard of you. What can you do to help?"

"I fight like crazy! What are we trying to do?"

"Supergirl started this dustup to free her cousin Superman - I saw her briefly before he and Joker vanished. Superman had a collar like yours. Supergirl should quickly realize that she can't remove Superman's collar and will come back here. So our first priority is to find the amulet controlling Superman. Smash that and no one can control his body."

"I'd think the guy in the hood has the amulet. I saw him give mine to this Nordic pig."

"Me too. Here," Batman says, reaching into another pouch and retrieving three small black balls. "These are military-style CS tear gas bombs. Smash one against the floor to stop anyone coming after you. But stay out of the cloud - it will force you to shut your eyes and immobilize you for 30 minutes! Use it on the opposition."

Raven takes the three balls and shoves them into one of the pouches on her belt. She then rushes the stage, easily vaulting over the edge in a forward somersault, landing on her feet on the stage. Two guards begin to head toward her from the far side of the stage so she tosses one of the balls at them. It explodes on contact, throwing a white barrier in front of the men. A heartbeat after entering the cloud, the two men stagger backward, hands rubbing their eyes.

Batman is about to move toward the stage when the blue blur streaks back into the cavernous warehouse and toward the back of the stage. The figure shoots past the curtains and, a heartbeat later, comes flying out, backward, out of control, to smash into the chairs in front of the stage.

"Rao, that thing can hit!" Supergirl says, rubbing the side of her head. She flew past one of the demons behind the stage and the beast managed to snag her cape as she flew toward the hooded figure. The creature stopped her rush and her feet shot forward as her flight stopped. A normal person's neck would have snapped. The Girl of Steel just grunted with impatience as the beast held her by her cape. He pulled her up higher and turned her to face him, then smashed her face with a huge paw. That's when she shot back out into the warehouse.

The Girl of Steel slowly rises to her feet and scans the backstage area with her super vision. The hooded guy is running toward the back of the warehouse, the two demons escorting him/her/it. Most of the human guards have formed a wall to stop anyone from pursuing them. The darkhaired heroine seems to be headed toward the wall. What's this? Robin is swinging down from the roof and a guy in a Batman cowl and tux is heading to join him at the edge of the stage.

"This has turned into a real furball," Supergirl muses, amazed by all the characters on hand. She leaps into the air and rockets toward the dark green curtains at the back of the stage, shooting a foot over the brunette heroine's head before ducking down to 'chest level'. Supergirl blasts through the curtain, arms stretched wide, knocking down four of the guards. As she continues to pursue the hooded figure, Robin, Batman and the brunette reach the back of the stage. There's a brief and violent fight but all the human guards are quickly knocked unconscious.

"C'mon, let's go see if Supergirl needs any help," Batman says to his companions. The three costumed crimefighters head into the back of the stage area, toward sounds of battle.

Supergirl hits the back part of the stage with titanic speed and crashes into the back of one of the Shurinami demons. The force of her impact - her tiny hands now clenched in a single fist - hammers the beast forward so that it hits the other demon and the cloaked figure. All sprawl on the flooring and a small object flies from the 'hand' of the cloaked being. Supergirl spins in the air and manages to grab the object even as the second demon grabs her red-booted ankle.

"Unnnh ... let ... GOOO!!" she roars at the beast as it tries to pull her out of the air. As the second beast and the hooded figure start to rise off the floor, the Girl of Steel blasts the beast's face with a searing shot of heat vision. The foul creature roars hellishly and releases the heroine to cover its face with its hands. Supergirl uses her freedom to rocket away from the trio. As she nears the stage curtain, she spots the three heroes heading toward her.

"I grabbed some thingee off the little hooded guy!" she yells. "Any ideas if it will help me release the collar around Superman's neck?"

"Break it!" Batman and Raven shout, as one. Supergirl struggles for a second trying to rend it into pieces, but fails.

"Let me have it!" Batman commands. The Girl of Steel tosses it to him, then looks back into the dark back area. The three odd beings are slinking down into a trap door. Meanwhile, Batman's vial of acid works on the second amulet, dissolving it into a steamy slag of wood.

"There goes Catwoman and Ivy," Supergirl announces as her super vision scans the warehouse. "And Misty is out there, too!"

"Just grab Ivy and head out, Supergirl," Batman orders. "Catwoman too, if you can. Let's just regroup outside before we go off to battle any other super villains, okay? Catwoman and Ivy are much more important than Misty, whoever that is."

Defeating Misty would go a long way toward helping her get her costume back. Supergirl ACHES to defeat the little bitch, but realizes that Batman is right. The heroine tells Batman where to find her and Superman and shoots out into the warehouse. As Misty looks around, trying to catch sight of the blue blur, the Maid of Might swoops down to capture first Ivy, then Catwoman. Holdin each with her hand around their waists, the Girl of Steel reluctantly shoots up through the roof and speeds away toward the Man of Steel.

"Damn that little super bitch!" the Chairman of Intergang hisses. "She cost us millions of dollars with that stunt! I want her dead and I want her dead ASAP! Get to work on it!"

"Damn that little super bitch!" Lex Luthor hisses to Misty and Mercy as their limousine pulls away from the warehouse. "I was going to buy Superman and lock him in my basement forever! She's ruined my plans to destroy that boy scout! We have to get her out of our hair!" Mercy smiles at the irony of his remark. Misty laughs and gets swatted by Luthor's backhand.

"Damn that little super bitch!" Mercy Graves thinks as she drives Lex and Misty away from the warehouse. "She could have taken out Misty with one quick strike but instead goes after everyone else! She'll pay for this. Oh, yes, she'll pay!"

"Damn that little super bitch!" Poison Ivy says to Catwoman and the Joker as they sit on the grass, surrounded by two Kryptonians, two batpersons, and the stranger from Dallas. "I could have gotten away from anyone who tried to control me, but not now!"

"Good job, Kara," Superman says to his cousin. "That collar made me feel so weak and helpless. I had to do anything they said to do. And they abused me, humiliated me on a daily basis for almost three weeks. It was horrible!"

"Yeah," she says, smiling weakly, "that would have been something!"

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