Jody Walker took a last sip from her glass of lemonade and sighed. “Where is that girl?” she asked impatiently.
The café was crowded and a group of older ladies standing near the bar were jealously eyeing her table. The table could easily accommodate four, Jody knew, and though she had been saving it for herself and Elle she now decided that she could bare the intense stares of the women no longer. Rising from her chair and grabbing her jacket and purse, she signaled her surrender with a wave of the hand. “It’s all yours, ladies. My date has stood me up.”
The women rushed in to claim the table as their own, almost knocking Jody over as they did. The young blonde sighed a second time and motioned to one of the café’s white aproned waiters. “Can you tell me where I might be able to freshen up?”
“Yes, madam. To the back, just past the kitchen.”
She nodded politely and began the trek through the crowded restaurant. There was no avoiding contact with the other patrons as she made her way toward the back. She smiled and tried not to be pushy, though had she wanted to she could have opened a path right through them. She caught a number of men eyeing her but ignored them—Despite her great beauty and extraordinary ability to attract members of the opposite sex, Jody Walker had little desire to start a relationship.
What the men did not know was that there was more to Jody than her striking appearance. She was not an ordinary woman. Beneath the casual clothing-- the burnt orange cotton t-shirt, the faded blue jeans with the large holes around the knees, the white sneakers—beneath the casual and otherwise ordinary clothing, was something unique, something special. She was obviously an athlete. But she was much more than that. Her cell structure had been modified by a special serum called Caantonium. She possessed the strength of ten men. She had the ability to fly. She was super-human.
And the serum had changed her in other ways, as well. With the strengths came a great weakness. The scientists back at the Program called it the Sartak, though she did not know why. It only affected the females of her kind, and again, she did not know why. All she knew was that it was a vulnerability to sensual feelings. When stimulated sexually, her powers would wane. If stimulated enough, she would drift into the dark clutches of sensual shock. She would die.
Because of her conditioning, Jody Walker was not and could not be a sexual being. Though men, and some women, openly lusted for her, she could never respond in kind. Hers was a lonely life, but she knew that it was meant to be. The Caantonium had made her into something so much more than what she had been before. It had given her the ability to make a difference, to fight crime and injustice, to stand up for the helpless and weak. She was doing what she wanted more than anything else in the world to do, and that made the sacrifices bearable.
But despite it all, despite the powers and weaknesses the Caantonium serum had bestowed upon her, despite the exciting and dangerous life she led, she was, underneath, still the same Jody Walker. Twenty-two years old, relatively inexperienced in the ways of the world, young and innocent. For the most part, she saw the world in black and white. There were good people and there were bad people. Good against evil. A few might tiptoe the line, but in the end they always fell to one side or the other.
Her virtuous outlook was her anchor. She had to see the world in such terms, she knew, for to see it otherwise was to allow the seeds of self-doubt to enter into her soul. She had to believe fully in what she was doing. Otherwise, she would lose faith and no longer have the strength of will to face the horrors she battled against almost on a daily basis. And if she lost the strength of her will, Jody knew, all the powers of her enhanced body would not save her from the ultimate defeat that the losing of her confidence would surely portend.
Pushing her way past a final group of patrons, Jody entered into a less crowded, yet cramped, hallway. She narrowly dodged a waitress rushing from the kitchen. The woman held a platter of freshly prepared food above her head and shot Jody a wicked look as she dashed by. The waitress, tired and grumpy from having too many customers, apparently did not appreciate having the tall blonde so near to her kitchen. Jody moved to the side and mumbled a brief apology before continuing on.
The ladies room was small, containing a single stall and sink. Jody was pleased to find it empty. She latched the door behind her. On the opposite wall, a swinging glass window stood open a crack and allowed a gentle breeze to enter. Yes, Jody decided, this would do nicely.
The young beauty laid her jacket down across the sink, making a type of shelf on which to lay her purse. The bag was large, constructed from vinyl and not terribly attractive. She undid the clasp at the top and reached inside. Despite its large size, the purse was nearly empty, containing little more than some basic cosmetics, a brush, some dental floss, her wallet, and a few other odds and ends. But there was one more item in the bag—Jody removed it and held it in her hand.
It was a small plastic pill bottle, not unlike those found at the pharmacy or drugstore. But this particular bottle did not contain medicine—Popping the rubber top off with her thumb, Jody turned the bottle upside down and shook it over her free hand. The contents--three tiny bundles of wadded red and black fabric--slid out and fell into her palm.
Jody pinched a corner of the largest bundle between her thumb and forefinger and gave it violent shake. Almost instantly, the wadded fabric reformed itself into something spectacular. Where before she had held a tiny bundle of tightly compressed cloth, her fingers now held the costume of a super-heroine.
Despite having come out of the tiny bottle container just a moment before, the costume was now wrinkle free. It was also perfectly clean. The fabric was made from unstable molecules and Jody knew that barring something really extraordinary, she would never need to iron or wash it. The costume was indestructible and would never tear. No wonder the fabric was so expensive, she reminded herself. And no wonder that there was so little of it.
A blush came to the young woman’s cheeks. Indeed, there was not much to the costume. It showed a lot of skin. What it did cover, it did so without any thought of modesty. Once worn, the costume would cling to her athletic figure so tightly and so perfectly that every angle, curve, and bump would be revealed. But in return, it gave her an absolute freedom of movement that was unmatched by any other type clothing on Earth. Even the special Tekskin costume worn by her friend, Elle Mental, could not match the amazing qualities of this incredible weave of unstable molecules.
Working quickly, Jody shook out the second tiny bundle of fabric and revealed a pair of boots made from the same material as the main part of the costume. The third bundle, smaller yet than the first two, revealed a mask. Jody removed her clothes and slipped them inside the big purse. This was precisely the reason she carried such a large bag, she knew. Though she did not often change into costume like this, it did not hurt to be able to make a quick transformation when she needed to.
She slipped into the costume with practiced precision. First, she carefully stepped into the bikini bottom through the open back. She pulled the bottom up and adjusted the waist band so that it was correctly positioned over her hips, crotch, and rear. Next, she slid her arms into the sleeves, working her hands through the tight tubes of fabric until they reached the finger-ended base of the sleeves. As it did with the rest of her body, the special cloth conformed eagerly to the length and width of her fingers so that a perfect fit was quickly achieved.
Jody pulled the top of the costume up and over her head. It wrapped around her neck and shoulders as if from memory, adjusting itself to the shape of her body perfectly. She pulled it down and over her chest, then made a few final adjustments to the tapers that descended from beneath her breasts and attached to the bikini bottom at the top of her hips.
She slipped into the boots. They clung to her feet and calves tightly but were completely comfortable. In fact, it almost felt to Jody as if she were not really wearing anything at all. Indeed, the soles of the boots consisted of only a slightly thicker grade of fabric than the rest of the costume. The sheer fabric was almost unnoticeable and, as if barefoot, she had no problem feeling the smooth, cool, contours of the tiled ladies room floor beneath. Such boots, granting as little protection against the elements as they did, might have proved a problem for normal women, as every little pebble could cause a painful misstep. But for Jody, whose body was bullet proof, not to mention pebble proof, the boots were ideal.
Finally, she put the mask on her face, adjusting it so that it was perfectly aligned over her eyes and nose. No visible means of support could be seen to explain the way it clung to her skin. Rather, and like the rest of the costume, it seemed to be painted onto her magnificent body.
The young woman stepped back and peered into the mirror over the sink. Where before had stood Jody Walker there now stood the champion of justice, Ms. Marvelous. Her red and black costume shimmered in the light of the ladies room. Her golden blonde hair hung loosely across her strong shoulders. The star on her chest announced boldly that she stood for righteousness. Confidence radiated from her striking figure.
Unfortunately, the super-heroine knew that she could not just prance out of the washroom and through the café. She would have to gather up her bag and exit through the window. Undignified for a great heroine, to be sure, but the price, she supposed, of maintaining a secret identity.
“Now to go and find Elle,” she thought as she opened the window enough to slide through. “And she had better have a good reason for being late!”
Elle Mental cried out in desperation. The strong arm of her adversary, wrapped under her left shoulder and around the back of her neck, pressed her head forward at a painful angle. The hand groping her crotch was driving her wild with unwanted ecstasy. A finger, buried to the knuckle inside her moist pussy, tormented her body with wave after wave of powerful, near-orgasmic, sensations.
Through it all, her light-headiness grew more pronounced. Her stomach felt nauseated, as if she had eaten some spoiled seafood. Whisper was draining her, the young brunette knew. The empath was feeding on her erotic emotions and draining her strength. It could not go on much longer. One way or the other, it had to end.
“Stop… doing this… to me…” Elle moaned.
“Delicious!” her alien attacker responded in delight.
The mutant warrior tried desperately to hold back her impending orgasm. The release of so much pure sexual energy would surely be the end of her. She tried to make sense of it, to figure out what was happening to her. Despite the fact that Whisper had been groping her vulnerable womanhood for over four minutes, Elle could not believe that her body was responding so strongly and quickly to the stimulation. There was something else at work here, she knew. Something sinister and unexpected.
The young beauty tried to remember what her adversary had said earlier during their battle. Something about aiding her, assisting her to feel so that the empath could more easily feed off of her. Was this what was happening, Elle wondered? Was the alien somehow manipulating her emotions in ways other than simply rubbing her fingers across Elle’s swollen clit? Was she being manipulated
mentally, by some unknown power, as well as physically?
Elle knew that this must be the answer. Her opponent had said something about returning some of the emotional energy she had stolen. It was clear, now, that she was returning the energy as a sensual stimulant and as an attack designed to magnify the erotic feelings that were coursing through the gorgeous girl’s body.
Elle’s leather mini-skirt was hiked up over her hips. Her panties had been ripped away and now lay in the middle of the alley. Her black silk stockings were badly torn. She was locked hopelessly in a half-nelson wrestling hold. With each passing moment, her alien attacker absorbed more of her waning strength, weakening Elle while becoming stronger herself. The young brunette knew that things did not look good for her.
Suddenly, Whisper released her hold on the back of Elle’s neck. The weary heroine lifted her head, relieved that the painful pressure had been removed. Maybe now, she thought. Maybe now she would be able to turn the tide of the battle.
But Whisper had other plans. Her left hand, the one that had been across Elle’s neck, slid downward slowly, across her shoulder and upper chest. She slid it inside of her victim’s blouse and softly cupped her right breast.
Elle whimpered in protest but did not try to pull the hand away. Her breast responded immediately to the stimulation, growing firm and enlarging with surprising speed. Her nipple became hard and swollen. It pressed outward against the soft cotton fabric of her bra.
Elle leaned back against her relentless adversary, allowing the alien attacker to support her weight. Her head drooped backward onto her foe’s right shoulder. Her back arched under the ecstasy of sensations that she was feeling, pushing her vulnerable chest further forward. For a time she was completely lost in the feelings, unaware of anything but the hand massaging her aching breast and the finger inside her wet pussy.
“Oh, god…” the slender beauty moaned. “…I am about to come…”
“Yes,” her attacker hissed into her left ear. “Give up all of your energy to me. Allow me to consume your emotions. Allow me to feed on your life-force.”
Whisper’s voice sounded like the grating of an iron plow against granite bedrock. Hideous and frightening, it shook Elle out of her forced revelry and reminded her of the dire peril she was in. An alien from another planet was attacking her, she reminded herself. A creature from another world was raping her. It meant to feed on her, to kill her. She had to do something!
The beautiful brunette forced her mind to focus. She concentrated on the teachings of the Eastern masters, those that had shown her how to fight. She remembered how they had taught her to control her emotions. The time had come, she knew, to put those teachings to use.
Elle’s body went completely limp. Her arms dangled at her sides and no longer fought with her attacker. Her long legs, spread and bent at the knees, provided no support for her one-hundred and twenty pound weight. Her toes pointed behind her and the tops of her feet rested lightly against the alley floor. Her head tilted backward and slumped to the side, as if she had lost all will to resist. The brunette beauty moaned softly as the stimulation of her body continued unabated for yet another minute.
Whisper hissed in glee. The human female had proven to be a difficult prey, but was now defeated. Her body, now fully stimulated and on the edge of reaching an orgasm, poured forth wave after wave of delicious sexual energy. The alien thought she had never tasted anything so sweet. None of the others had been like this, she knew.
The helpless girl’s once powerful body hung limply in Whisper’s arms. The alien’s left arm, wrapped around the girl’s torso, supported most of her weight. The fingers of Whisper’s left hand continued to expertly massage her breast, drawing forth the nipple until it was like a hard, pointed, pebble beneath her cotton bra. The empath’s right hand remained between the girl’s legs, working over her sensitive nether lips and pussy.
The bulb of Elle’s clit was swollen to its maximum size. With each brush of the alien’s fingers across its sensitive surface, the young beauty moaned yet louder. The finger inside her love hole was driving her mad with erotic sensations. Her orgasm was about to explode. She did not think she could hold out much longer. She had to do something. If she was going to do anything, she knew that it had to be now.
The beautiful mutant knew that her adversary was reveling in victory. Whisper thought that the fight was over and was now fully focused on consuming Elle’s sexual energy. The alien hunter was relying on her past experiences with other, lesser, human females. She had never before preyed on someone like Elle. She would not expect any further resistance. She would not expect a sudden counter. The time had come to try. The time had come to escape.
Elle shifted her feet so that her toes were planted against the surface of the alley floor. She focused the last of her remaining strength. Suddenly, she raised her head and lunged forward. The unexpected move caught her opponent by surprise—Both women were propelled toward the pavement floor of the alley.
At the last moment, Elle got her left foot underneath her body and used it to spin both she and her adversary. They crashed hard to the concrete, Whisper taking most of the impact on her right shoulder. It was not much, really, the force of the blow not even causing the powerful alien to grunt, but it did give Elle the chance to slip from her attacker’s grasp.
The weary mutant rolled to her left, then somersaulted forward to put some distance between herself and her foe. She rose to her feet quickly before backing away further. She adjusted her skirt, folding it down over her hips and restoring some of her modesty. She sighed heavily, thankful to have Whisper’s finger out of her cunt. Her unsatisfied orgasm remained there, hidden but powerful, and still a threat.
“You only delay the inevitable!” Whisper hissed in anger as she rose into a crouch.
“I will never give in to you, monster!”
“You will give in! You will be consumed!”
The alien sprung upward, leaping high into the air and toward her prey. Acting instinctively, Elle let out a war cry and did the same. The two warriors met ten feet off the ground, clashing with a violent exchange of blows. In the end, gravity was the only true victor as both women fell back to earth with neither having gained the advantage.
The women squared off for another exchange of blows. Whisper attacked first, confident that her newly reinforced strength would quickly prove to be the deciding factor in this super-powered catfight. She jabbed with her left before swinging a mighty blow with her right. But Elle was still quick and agile. She ducked under the blows and countered with one of her own. The sound of her fist crashing off the alien’s jaw resounded through the walled spaces of the alley.
The young brunette backed away, pleased to have landed a blow but knowing also that her foe was now much stronger than she. The energy that Whisper had stolen had weakened the mutant warrior while making her alien adversary more powerful. If Elle was to win the fight, she knew, it would be the result of superior fighting techniques and perhaps a little luck.
“Do not back away, prey,” Whisper commanded her. “Allow me to feed!”
“You have taken all that you shall from me, witch!”
“But I must have more. Yes. Delicious. You will subsist me.”
The alien lunged for Elle, trying to once again place her prey in a wrestling hold from which she could stimulate more erotic feelings. Elle knew that she could not allow such a thing to occur—She had barely escaped the first time and could not be sure that her willpower would be sufficient to escape a second round of sexual manipulation.
At the same time, it occurred to the voluptuous siren that her opponent’s great hunger was making her careless. As Whisper lunged forward, she left herself open for a counter strike. Taking advantage of the situation, Elle sidestepped to her right and raised her left leg, delivering a powerful knee to her foe’s gut as she passed by.
Whisper doubled over in pain, clutching at her injured abdomen. Elle followed up by hammering home a double fisted chop to the back of the alien’s head that sent the blonde empath crashing face-first to the asphalt. A kick to the ribs caused the woman to hiss in pain and anger.
But Elle’s hard-earned victory was all to brief. Moving with incredible speed, Whisper snapped out her hand and grabbed the young mutant’s ankle. Rising to her feet, she jerked her prey’s leg out from under her and sent the hapless girl tumbling head over heels to the ground.
“Your resistance is pointless, human! I am much stronger than you, now. You have no hope of winning this battle!”
Elle struggled to her feet and rubbed the growing knot on the back of her head where it had slammed against the unforgiving asphalt floor of the alley. “No way am I done fighting, witch! You will find that I am not the same as your other victims.”
“Yes,” Whisper agreed, “you are more. Much more. Delicious. Wonderful. Elle Mental. Yes. I will enjoy consuming you!”
“Consume this, bitch!” Elle leapt forward and delivered a front thrust kick that landed squarely in the middle of her adversary’s chest. A knife hand strike to the base Whisper’s throat finished the deal and the alien fell backward in a heap.
The empathic villain tried to rise, but Elle sent her back to the ground with a side snap kick. Two more blows landed solidly. For the first time, the fight seemed to being going the mutant’s way. She stayed on top of her opponent, keeping her off balance, never allowing her to completely rise from the ground or get her feet set. A kick here, a punch there. Crescent kick, back fist strike, leg sweep, jab, cross, mule kick—Combinations of blows that were as impressive in their execution as they were powerful. The tide turned. Elle was now in charge.
Finally, the alien hunter was able to stand and get her feet squared. But the damage had been done. Elle could see it in her black eyes. The fire that had been in those dark pits was now gone, replaced by fear. Elle rushed in and grabbed Whisper by the shoulders. Mustering all her strength, she slammed the alien back first against the brick wall of the alley. The strength seemed to leave her opponent’s body as surely as the air was knocked from her lungs.
“What are you?” Elle demanded angrily. “Why have you come here? Why do you hurt people?” Whisper’s voice was soft, barely audible, but hideous and evil none the less. “Mercy! Yes! Mercy!”
“Answer my questions and I may be merciful. Why have you come here?”
The alien sighed, resigned to her defeat. “On my planet, there is no emotion. My kind must seek out other species for subsistence. Humans are such emotional creatures. Yes. Delicious feelings.” “So you are a parasite? Stealing the emotional energy of others? Is this how you live? Is there no other way?”
“We are what we are.”
“How many of you are there? How many of your kind are on Earth?”
The alien cackled, suddenly enjoying the conversation. She did not normally converse with her prey. “Not many. Few of us left. We do not care for one another’s company. Yes. Solitary. I have not seen another in a thousand years.”
“A thousand years? Just how old are you?”
“Very old. Yes.”
Elle looked at her opponent incredulously. The woman looked as if she might be in her thirties. Could this be, she wondered? Could this creature really be so ancient? Could she really be from another world?
“Ok, grandma, I guess the question now is what I do with you. One thing is for sure, you can not be allowed to continue going around and--”
Suddenly, the dark alley was full of light and noise. As one, the female warriors turned to look. The entrance to the alley was now blocked by a massive van. The bright headlights of the huge truck were reinforced by a second bank of lights above the windshield. The silhouettes of several figures stood in front of the vehicle.
“You there!” one of the figures shouted. “Stop where you are. Do not move!”
Whisper hissed and barred her teeth. Reenergized by fear, she slipped out of Elle’s hold and leapt high into the air. To the mutant’s surprise, and probably that of the mysterious figures at the end of the alley, the alien landed fifteen feet up on the wall, in a crouch, her hands and feet sticking to the bricks and holding her suspended there like some kind of huge insect. With a final look back, the alien scurried away along the surface of the wall and disappeared into the shadows.
“Ten-four, HQ, confirmed sighting at location. Verify one wall-crawler, probably the empath, and one unknown. The crawler was last seen heading on vector two-seven-zero. We are investigating the unknown, now. Over.”
Elle turned toward the voice and tried to make out figures approaching her. The glare of the lights on the van made it almost impossible.
“Who are you?” she asked hesitantly. “What do you want?”
“Break HQ, unknown appears to be a human female. Possibly the intended victim of the crawler. We’ll check her out.”
“Take it easy, Miss. Everything will be fine. We’ll protect you.”
Elle squinted at the man speaking to her, trying to see what he looked like. “Oh, god,” she thought, “do not let it be. Please, god, let me be wrong…”
The first of the figures approached closer. “Looks like we arrived just in time. You are very lucky, Miss. Very lucky, indeed.”
Elle’s heart sunk as she saw the uniform. She took a step backward, suddenly terrified. “Not many escape the alien. Actually, now that I think about it, none ever have before. Hmm, I wonder how you managed it? From the looks of it, you had quite a tussle.”
There could be no mistake, now—The blue uniform, the patch on the shoulder, the energy pistol on the hip. The man was a soldier for the MCT.
“I… I, uh, tried to resist… as long as I could.”
“Uh huh. Well, it’s all right now. Nothing more to worry about. We’ve got you and we won’t let anything hurt you.”
A second man approached. “It looked to me like she was doing ok on her own, Major. It looked to me like she had the alien pinned up against the wall.”
“That’s enough of that, Sergeant. There’s no mistaking this cutie for a blueskin. I’m sure she can explain what was happening. Can you, Miss?”
The wheels in Elle’s mind were spinning a thousand mile per hour. How had this happened, she wondered? One moment she was fighting a space alien, she next she was face to face with the Mutant Capture Team. At least she was not in costume, she reminded herself. She might yet be able to get out of this mess.
She thought back to the not so distant past, to a time when she was just turning into a young woman. She had been fifteen when her mutant abilities had manifested themselves. Her parents, having already endured one mutant daughter, had immediately turned her over to the authorities. The MCT placed her in the Institute for Genetic Studies, a scientific lab and prison dedicated to removing genetic freaks from the general population.
When she was eighteen, Elle had used her increasingly powerful abilities to escape the Institute. She had fled to the East to avoid the grasp of the MCT. But they would still want her back, she knew. Should they discover her identity, they would want to return her to the Institute.
The sound of someone kicking the nearby garbage can brought Elle back to the present. She quickly looked around, appraising her situation. In addition to the two men she was talking with, another six were mulling about the alley, looking for evidence and clues.
“Is everything alright, Miss?” the major asked. “You were about to tell us what happened.” “Um… yes,” Elle replied nervously. “Everything is fine. Now that you are here. I feel so safe with all of you big strong men here to protect me.”
Elle tried to make out the features of the man’s face. Beads of sweat formed on her brow. “It just can’t be!” she screamed inside. “It just can’t be, but it is! It is Major Justice!” Her mind raced back to the past once again. Major Justice ran field operations for the MCT. It was he that had first taken her into custody and he that had placed she and her sister in the Institute. After their escape, it had been he that had relentlessly pursued them, hounding them at every step, never far behind.
“Yes, I am really just fine,” she said while trying to remain cool. “I should probably be going so that you men can do your business. I would not want to get in the way, after all.” The Major looked at her suspiciously. “Right. But you’re not in the way. We just have a few questions, that’s all. I hope that you will ignore the sergeant. It’s just that we have never come across someone that actually survived an empath attack before. And let me tell you, we have been tracking that foul creature for some time.”
“From the looks of your clothes, you fought with it,” the sergeant suggested coldly. Elle looked down at her tattered clothing and self-consciously tugged down on her leather mini. Her black silk stockings were badly torn, revealing the bronze tanned skin beneath. Her blouse was missing several buttons. With a blush, the beautiful brunette modestly folded her arms over her chest. She had been dressed to kill before her fight with Whisper. Now, with her clothing torn, she looked like some kind of cheap whore. She had no doubt that the leering eyes of the sergeant were not the only ones checking her out. Sure enough, a quick look around the alley confirmed that the other men were spending more time looking at her than they were for evidence.
“Yes… we struggled. Not that I was really any match for her, but it seems that I was able to hold out long enough for help to arrive.”
The Major’s eyes, too, remained locked on Elle. Blue and intent, they never wavered from the slender beauty. But unlike those of his men, the Major’s eyes never strayed from her face. He seemed intensely interested in her, as if trying to place her.
“Hey! Look at these!” One of the men scouring the alley had found something. “Looks like a pair of torn panties!”
Almost as one, every man in the alley stopped and looked. Then they looked toward Elle. Again, she tugged down on her mini-skirt. “Yes, well… I mean, she did try to assault me, after all.” “Right,” the major replied after a moment of hesitation. “And you survived against that monster long enough for help to arrive. You must be a very special young woman. Can you tell us anything else?” “What would you like to know?”
“Let’s start at the beginning. What’s your name?”
“My name? Um… It’s Elle. Yes, Elle Smith.”
“Elle, huh?”
The mutant flinched and cursed herself silently. “Damn! Why did I say Elle?”
“Um, yes… Elle Smith.”
“Do you have some ID?”
“ID? Why, no! I think I must have left my purse back at the theater.”
“Major?” the same man that had discovered the panties interrupted. “There’s a leather jacket on the ground over here. A purse, too.”
Major Justice raised an eyebrow but did not take his eyes off of Elle. “Bring it here, Simmons.” The soldier did as he was told. Elle made a mental note that if things got ugly she was going to make a point of smacking Simmons around first.
“I can’t seem to find an ID,” the major complained while rummaging through the tightly packed purse. “This is your handbag, isn’t it, Ms. Smith?”
“Um, yes. Yes, that is my bag. I guess I had it with me all along. What a dutz I am.” The sergeant whispered something into the Major’s ear. For a long time, the two men stared at the brunette intently. Elle was getting nervous. She figured they were checking out more than just her body.
“Excuse me, Miss, but have we met before? You seem familiar.”
“Why, no! I mean, I think would have remembered meeting someone as handsome as yourself.” “You know, when we pulled up I was in the back of the van. It’s sort of our mobile command center, if you know what I mean. But the sergeant swears that he saw you holding the empath against this wall over here. He says it appeared that you were talking to it.”
Elle tried to muster a laugh. It ended up sounding more like a nervous squeak. “I am sure that the sergeant is mistaken! I mean, how could little old me restrain such a monster? No, I am sure that it was the alien holding me.”
“Did you talk to it?”
“Well, I suppose a few words were exchanged. After all, she was assaulting me in a rather personal way. I am embarrassed even to talk about it.”
Elle blushed and looked at the ground. She could feel the eyes of the men around her penetrating her. She could almost sense their thoughts as they imagined the creature molesting her love box.
Major Justice gave her a cold smile. “Now, Elle, there is no reason to be embarrassed. You should be thankful to be alive.”
“Yes, I am thankful that--”
The sergeant interrupted. “I’m telling you, Major, this chick was holding the alien against the wall! Something isn’t kosher, here, I tell you. Look at her clothes, all torn and tattered. Her jacket and purse are lying over there like she set them down, nice as can be. Her panties are in the middle of the alley, for crying out loud. It’s obvious that she fought with the creature. She fought with it and somehow won. No normal person could survive against that thing, much less beat it.”
Elle tried to act astounded. “What are you suggesting, Sergeant? That I am some kind of super hero or something? Please! How ridiculous is that?”
“Not a super-hero,” the sergeant responded while fingering the handle of his holstered energy pistol, “but some kind of mutant, maybe.”
“That’s enough, Sergeant,” the Major interjected coolly. “I’m sure that Ms. Smith has a perfectly logical explanation.”
“Me? A mutant? Does my skin really look blue? Oh, please!”
“We have it all on video tape,” the sergeant persisted. “If you wish, we can review the tapes and you can see for yourself--”
“That won’t be necessary, Sergeant. I already know who this girl is. My, my! It has been a long time, hasn’t it Elle? I must say, I never thought I would see you in Megapolis again.” Elle’s demeanor grew hard. She hoped that it masked her fear. Finally, she spoke. “I do not suppose it does any good to continue the masquerade. I too, never thought to see you again. I had
hoped that some particularly nasty mutant might end your miserable existence. I can see, now, that I was being overly optimistic.”
Major Justice chuckled. “Surely, you remember how careful I am? I usually try to avoid direct contact with the proto-humans. But, on occasion, I allow myself the challenge of one on one combat. It can be quite exhilarating. And, of course, I have yet to lose.”
Elle grimaced as the memories of the Institute came rushing back. Indeed, the Major had been known to occasionally put the genetically enhanced abilities of his captives to the test against his own, impressive, fighting skills. His tournaments were as pointless as they were brutal, despite his claims that they furthered the Institute’s goal of better understanding the limits of the powers possessed by its involuntary charges.
“There is a first time for everything, Justice.”
“Perhaps, Elle, but that time is not now. Men, take this tramp into custody.”
The super-heroine swallowed hard and prepared herself for what was to come. She knew from experience that MCT soldiers were well trained and equipped. They were not the typical, doughnut eating, cops. These boys were paramilitary types and cared less about enforcing the law of the land than they did playing with their guns and strutting around as if they were better than everyone else. And maybe they were better—All of them, from the lowliest private all the way up to the Major himself, were in tiptop physical condition. They were trained in how to take down mutants. Their physical prowess was further augmented by special cybernetically enhanced uniforms that gave them additional strength and speed. And perhaps worst of all, these soldiers really enjoyed their work.
To compound an already dire situation, Elle was already weakened from her battle with Whisper. She wished again that she had her rope. Without it, she had no means to channel her powerful telekinetic abilities. Once again, she would have to rely on her martial arts training and physical abilities alone. The mutant powers of her mind would do her little good.
The Major and his sergeant turned and began walking back toward the van. Apparently, Elle noted with a mixture of disgust and relief, she was not worth their time. The other six, though, did as they had been ordered and took up positions in a circle around the beautiful heroine. Lurid smiles warped their faces as they scoped out her slender, five foot six inch frame. The young brunette knew that these men would not hesitate to take liberties with her, given the chance.
“Mmm… You are one fine looking piece of meat,” one of them hooted.
“Yeah, but those stockings are all torn,” another pointed out. “Why don’t you let me help you out of them?”
“Be careful,” the soldier named Simmons warned. “She may not have blue skin, but she is reportedly a powerful telekinetic. She’ll slap you around without even touching you.” “Yeah, but I heard she needs a rope or something to use her powers.”
“I don’t see any rope.”
“My point exactly. Without it, she’s nothing but a harmless little girl.”
“A damn sexy little girl!”
“Still, I would be careful. She was tough enough to stand up to the wall-crawler, after all.” “Bah! The wall-crawler is nothing compared to us. I bet any one of us could take her out.” “Or just take her,” another suggested with a laugh.
The largest of the bunch, an especially burly corporal, stepped forward. “Alright, but I get the first shot at her!”
The others quickly agreed and started chanting the corporal’s name. “Yeah! Johnson! Johnson! You get her, Johnson!”
Elle faced off with the man and snarled her defiance. “You will regret taking me on alone, pig!” “Give me your best shot,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I doubt that a little thing like you could even--”
The brunette heroine ended her opponent’s statement with a front thrust kick to his gut. The man doubled over in pain. An ax kick across the back of his head and shoulders put his large frame to the ground.
The other soldiers grimaced as their comrade fell face first to the pavement. But they cheered wildly as he pulled himself back up. “Yeah! Johnson! Get her, man!”
“Nice moves,” the big corporal said while wiping some bile from his chin. “But it will take more than that to beat me.”
“No problem,” Elle responded confidently. “I am willing to do whatever it takes. I hate to leave a job unfinished.”
The slender heroine dove low and feet first toward her slower opponent. The drop kick landed squarely on Johnson’s right kneecap, buckling the joint. The big man screamed in agony and fell to the ground, clutching his hyper-extended leg.
“You bitch! You hurt me!”
Elle rolled to her left and popped up in a crouch. “Damn right I hurt you. Like I said, I will do whatever it takes.”
The remaining soldiers howled in anger over what had occurred. Elle remembered her promise and headed toward the closest of the bunch. Simmons’ eyes widened in stark terror as she approached, but he was too slow to get out of the way. The charging heroine delivered a crushing double palm strike under his chin that sent the hapless man spiraling head over heels to the street.
“That’s two,” Elle said silently as she spun around and looked for her next target. Before she could react, however, a fist crashed against her left cheekbone. The brunette reeled from the powerful strike but maintained her feet. Her attacker was directly in front of her, squaring his feet in preparation to deliver another blow.
“We’re going to teach you a lesson, mutant!” he snarled. “We’re going to--”
Elle spun and ripped a backhanded strike across the soldier’s face. “You should concentrate less on talking and more on fighting,” she suggested as she drove a second blow into the man’s stomach. An uppercut finished him off.
Elle’s victory was short lived, however. A blast from an energy pistol impacted in the middle of her back. The heroine screamed and fell to her knees. Waves of pain tortured her body. It felt as if every fiber of her body was on fire.
“Same old MCT,” she said through clenched teeth. “Always willing to shoot a girl in the back.” “Wow!” the shooter exclaimed as he returned the energy pistol to its holster. “She’s still conscious!”
“Yeah,” another agreed. “She really is tough.”
“Not tough enough, though,” the third declared. “Let’s get her before she can recover.” Elle forced her aching body back to its feet. She had been hit by blasts from the energy pistols before. Although the pain was exquisite, she knew from experience that the effects were temporary. She could still fight on. She had to fight on. She had to--
The three remaining soldiers charged her from different directions and quickly had her slight frame wrapped within their arms. The young beauty struggled to squirm free, but it was three against one and seemingly hopeless. One man, the biggest of the bunch, held her from behind, his meaty arms wrapped around her shoulders. The other two pressed tightly against her from the sides, holding onto her wrists and further restricting the young woman’s movements.
“Now we’ve got you, you mutant skank!”
“Time to pay the piper, bitch!”
“You might as well relax and enjoy it!”
Elle cried out in anger and frustration as the man on her right tore open her blouse. The man on her left ripped her bra away from her chest, leaving her as exposed to the elements as she was to his probing eyes.
“Bastards! Stop! I will not let you do this!”
“You don’t have any choice in the matter, slut,” the soldier on her right said as he began to toy with her nipple. “You’re just mutant scum. You should feel proud that normals like us even have an interest in the likes of you.”
Elle’s suspicions were confirmed. These men, so caught up in their own self-righteousness, would think nothing of raping her. She looked toward the van. The major and sergeant were not even watching. They stood there, their silhouettes visible in front of the bright headlights, talking casually as if nothing out of the ordinary were occurring. Elle wanted to scream at them, to tell them what bastards they were for allowing this to happen, but she remained silent. She would not give them the satisfaction.
The soldier on her right leaned over her and wrapped his puckered lips around her swollen bud. He pulled the hardening nipple deep into his mouth and sucked it with a passion. Elle’s head arched back and her chest moved forward, further burying the nipple in her foe’s mouth. The young beauty bit her lower lip and resisted the urge to cry out. The fires within her, those ignited by the alien empath, were now rekindled. Despite her anger and rage, a burning passion as uncontrollable as it was unwanted grew strong within her.
The man on her left, encouraged by his mate’s actions, slid his hand down the front of her stomach. He softly caressed the contours of Elle’s chiseled abdominal muscles before reaching inside her skirt. The tight waist band of the skirt pinched deeply into the flesh of his forearm and that of Elle’s hips, but he thrust the hand deeper until his fingers found the target of his efforts.
The beautiful brunette moaned softly as the soldier’s fingers slid gently between her moist nether lips. Her legs involuntarily parted, her thighs widening just enough to allow him better access. It seemed to the girl that she was no longer in control of her own body. Whether an aftereffect of Whisper’s attack, or due to her own fatigue, she seemed ready to give in and surrender herself to the waves of erotic sensations that were coursing through her slender, now defenseless, body.
The dark heroine no longer resisted. She no longer tried to break free of her attackers’ grip. It had been bound to happen sooner or later, she knew. The MCT had finally caught up with her. Like the others of her kind, she would be made their prisoner. They would remove her from the real world, study her, abuse her, maybe even dissect her. This would probably not be the last time they sexually assaulted her. And it would not be the worst that she would be forced to endure.
“Damn!” the soldier with his hand down her skirt exclaimed. “She is so wet it is unbelievable!” The one on her right pulled Elle’s breast out of his mouth long enough to reply. “Yeah, and her nipple is about to explode. Probably due to the battle with the wall-crawler. I hear that alien witch uses some kind of sexual attack to subdue its victims.”
“Whatever! All I know is this bitch is about to come all over my hand!”
Elle, hopelessly buried inside the strong arms of the man behind her, moaned louder as she felt her adversary’s finger slide deeper into her hole. His touch was not so gentle as had been that of the empath, but it was still rubbing all the right spots. The man on her right returned her rock-hard nipple to his mouth, rolling his tongue over it time after time. Her buttons were being pushed, she knew. The unsatisfied orgasm was growing strong once again within her depths would soon reach its uncontrollable climax.
“Stop… please… no…”
The man holding her from behind was growing excited. He could feel her body trembling within his arms. She, in turn, could feel the large bulge of his stiffening shaft pressing outward through his uniform and against the small of her back. The man loosened his hold on her shoulder and wrapped his left hand around her body. He cupped her left breast in his fingers and squeezed lightly. Her firm flesh was a joy to him and he pressed down harder until, finally, he made the young heroine squeal in weak protest.
“That’s my girl,” he said wickedly. “Give it up to your daddy.”
“Please… no… stop…”
Elle could take no more. She was being molested by three men. Her breasts were swollen and sensitive. Her nipples were hard as marbles. The fingers groping her wet pussy were driving her wild with erotic sensations. Her orgasm reached its zenith and exploded across her burning body. Spasms rocked her slender form. Her love juice flowed across the hand of the soldier rubbing her pussy. He and his buddies strained to hold the beautiful brunette as she jerked within their grasp. Finally, after the last spasm faded and her body went limp, the three looked at one another with sinister smiles.
“My god!” the man who had been sucking her nipple shouted. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
“Oh, I’m going to fuck this bitch!” the other replied.
“Why do you get to go first?” the man behind asked. “Let’s draw straws or something to decide-- ”
Suddenly, a red and black blur swept through the alley. The sound of knuckles cracking against bone filled the air. The three soldiers never knew what hit them. Elle dropped to her knees as the
supporting arms of the soldiers were ripped away. She heaved a heavy sigh of relief, happy to be away from their groping fingers. She raised her head and brushed the hair from her face. The three men lay about her, each one of them groaning from a different affliction. The soldier on her right held his head in his hands and looked to be on the edge of unconsciousness. The man on her left clutched his ribs. The one behind held his left arm and complained that it was broken.
A gentle hand patted her on the shoulder. It helped her get to her feet. She looked into the blue eyes of her savior and mustered a smile. “Jody-- Ms. Marvelous. Thank god.”
The blonde super-heroine looked at her friend with concern. “Are you alright?”
“These goons are tough, but I had them right where I wanted them.”
Ms. Marvelous raised an eyebrow. “Right where you wanted them, huh? Well, six against one isn’t very good odds. Looks like you took out three of them ok, though.”
“There are two more in front of the van. These MCT guys like to have the numbers on their side.”
The red and black clad heroine looked surprised. “MCT? Are you sure?”
“That is what the patches on the uniforms say.”
“Hmm… Yes, I hadn’t noticed before. But why are you fighting with the MCT?”
A man’s voice interrupted with the answer. “Because she wanted to avoid capture, I assume.” “Who are you?” the blonde champion asked the approaching figure.
“Major Justice, at your service. This is Sergeant Jackson. We’re in charge, here.” “In charge? In charge of what? Attacking and raping young women?”
The major chuckled. “In charge of apprehending rogue mutants. This young woman you are defending happens to be one of the most wanted mutants in the city. She escaped from the Institute over a year ago. I intend to return her.”
“This woman is a friend of mine and an ally of this city in its fight against crime. I demand that you leave her alone.”
“You demand? Who are you to make demands?”
The super-heroine was taken off guard by the question and hesitated. “Well, I mean… I’m Ms. Marvelous, after all.”
Major Justice scowled. “You’re just another proto-human threatening the lives of innocent normals. To date, we’ve let you be only because you have helped us to capture some mutant criminals. I have to give you credit, Ms. Marvelous—Cleaning up after your battles has been a lucrative endeavor for the MCT. But make no mistake, we are not on the same side. Like all mutants, you will eventually have to be interred.”
“First of all,” the heroine replied angrily, “I’m not a mutant. Not that there is anything wrong with being one. Secondly, the MCT is a police unit. You cannot simply inter people for no reason. People have rights. They have the right not to be--”
“People have rights, mutants do not! The MCT is much more than a police unit. We are a government agency tasked with one agenda—The capture and internment of all proto-humans. This includes those that hide their nature behind a normal looking appearance, such as Elle Mental. It also includes would be super-heroes such as you, Ms. Marvelous.”
Coldness filled the beautiful heroine’s eyes. “I know all about government agencies. More, in fact, than you can ever know. When the government tramples on human rights in pursuit of a greater cause, whether that cause be just or unjust, all of humanity loses. Thank you, Major Justice, for explaining the circumstances to me. Thank you for making me aware of the true nature of your organization. You are right, you know. We are not on the same side.”
The two sets of adversaries stared silently at one another for several moments. Finally, Major Justice motioned to his sergeant that they should back off.
“Elle was correct when she said that the MCT likes to have the numbers on its side, Ms. Marvelous. And so, for tonight, we shall allow you to depart without further conflict. But I have a feeling that we shall meet again, very soon. And perhaps, at some point in the near future, you and I shall test our skills against one another in combat.”
The heroine met the major’s gaze boldly. “I look forward to that day. Until then, watch yourself. The MCT has made a new enemy on this night.”
The blonde champion watched as the two soldiers backed away toward the van. Satisfied that they would make no move to stop her, she wrapped her arm around her friend’s waist and used her flying power to lift them both into the night sky. They flew a short distance before setting down on top of a building.
“I’m going to put my fist through that idiot’s face!” the costumed champion vowed. “Beware Justice, Jody,” Elle cautioned. “He is as powerful as he is arrogant. I have seen him in action. He is very good.”
“I can’t believe I that have been so foolish all this time. The MCT is not a tool of good, as I thought. They are as bad as the Agent-X Program. Maybe worse.”
“It does seem kind of ironic, though. We have one government agency dedicated to making proto-humans and another dedicated to destroying them. If ever there was a case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing--”
“Never underestimate the powers of secrecy within the federal government, Elle. I have seen it firsthand. But just as Justice does not know about the Program and Panther probably does not know about the MCT, I’ll give odds that someone in the government-- someone high up within the intelligence bureaucracy-- is managing both programs for some bizarre and unknown purpose. Nothing happens by accident in the government. Mistakes are cover-ups and cover-ups are illusions. Nothing happens by accident.”
Elle shrugged. “I suppose. Maybe that council thing you were telling me about is behind it.” “Very likely. The right and left hands may not know what the other is doing, but the Council is the brain. It always knows.”
“Well, if there is a connection between the MCT and the Agent-X Program, we have all the more reason to be careful.”
Ms. Marvelous nodded in agreement and then noticed that her friend was shivering. “Girl, you’re almost naked! We need to get you out of the cold.”
Elle smiled, thankful again to be out of the clutches of the soldiers. “I’m alright. I just need a new set of movie-going clothes.”
“Is that what you call them? Well, my purse is nearby and has my clothes in it. You can put them on, if you like.”
Elle looked disappointed. “Are you not returning home with me? I want to tell you about a new adversary I encountered. I had it defeated until the MCT showed up and ruined my fun.” “It sounds like an interesting story, but it will have to wait. I am meeting Joel Reiner at the pier, tonight. It is almost nine now, so I must be going. Will you be ok?”
“No problems,” Elle responded with a shrug. “Say hello to Joel for me.”
“Farewell, then!”
Elle watched as the red and black clad figure of her friend disappeared into the night sky. Though she herself could fly, at least when she had her rope, it was not the same effortless task for her that it was for Ms. Marvelous. She sometimes envied the beautiful blonde for her powers, but always reminded herself that they were, in fact, near equals. They had once fought, the two women, before becoming allies, and it had been a closely contested draw. Still, to be able to fly like that…
Elle sighed and walked over to where Jody’s purse lay. Sure enough, a set of clothing was inside. She cast her tattered leather mini and torn silk stockings to the wind and then changed. As she scrambled off of the roof, leaping from windowsill to windowsill and sliding down a drain pipe to the sidewalk below, her thoughts drifted away from the terrors of empathic aliens and secret government agencies, and back to the sad movie she had seen earlier in the evening.
“Ah,” she whispered quietly, “if only I could find a love like that.”