Part One
Rebecca Hooper was surprised when Arnie asked her to go out to Tiava's for dinner that night. It was a pretty fancy place to eat, and they usually did pizza or fast food or a place like Ground Round or Red Lobster if they felt like a sit-down meal. She asked why he wanted to go there, and he mentioned it was their second anniversary. It was two years ago that evening when she stepped into his van and he kidnapped her. That was the evening he figured out Rebecca Hooper, his old high-school classmate, was Glory Girl, and she found out the fellow trying to start a career as a super-villain was her ex-math tutor, Arnie. Instead of adversaries they became friends and lovers, and she was so happy that he wanted to do something special to mark the date. When he came to pick her up that evening, she was surprised and very pleased to see he'd rented a limo and driver! All through the wonderful dinner, Becky's nerves were on edge as she wondered if he was going to do what she suspected. Sure enough, after dessert, Arnie came over to her and dropped to one knee. "Becky, I really love you and want to be more than your boyfriend." He pulled a small black box out of his pocket and opened it. She gasped at the sight of the gold band with a pair of sparkling diamonds. "Beck, will you marry me?"
She swung over and wrapped her arms around him, and started blubbering like a baby. Tears ran down her face and words stumbled badly as they tried to come out of her mouth. "Ohh.... Arnie.... it's beautiful... you really want to... I always thought you were too nice a guy to... the ring is gorgeous..." Arnie broke in. "Ahh, can I get a yes or (gulp) no here?" Becky looked him right in the eye and said. "Totally, positively YES!" After this excitement, they got back in the limousine, and Rebecca expected a ride back to Arnie's place. Instead they headed towards her house. She kept staring at the ring on her finger. Suddenly, she thought to ask. "Why the two diamonds, Arnie?" He smiled, and whispered in her ear, "To signify my beautiful fiance has two identities - Rebecca Hooper and Glory Girl!" She gave him another big hug and a long passionate kiss for that comment! When they got back to Becky's house, they entered to find Becky's folks as well as Arnie's Mom and Dad waiting with glasses and a bottle of champagne to toast the newly engaged couple. Becky looked over at her fiance, and asked. "Did you tell them?" Arnie had a stunned look on his face, "No, I don't see how they..." Thomas Belham, Arnie's dad, broke in. "A couple of days ago when you got that call from the jeweler, I overheard you tell him you'd be right over to pick up the ring you ordered. I could see right away what was going on. I've noticed how crazy you are about this young lady, and when I heard you were buying a ring, it was obvious. I spoke to your mother and mentioned it to Becky's folks. When we heard you two were going out for a fancy dinner tonight we all were sure you were going to pop the question." Donna Hooper spoke up. "And we were also sure that Becky was going to say yes. The two of you are so much in love..." Donna, and Helen (Arnie's Mom) both began to get misty-eyed and dabbed at their eyes with tissues. Patrick Hooper popped the cork on the champagne and filled the six glasses. "Let's have a toast to the future of these young people -- All the best for them!"
The next day, Rebecca passed on the wonderful news. She called Barbara Gordon in Gotham, Diana Prince in Washington, and Kara Zor-El up at the Justice League Watchtower space station to tell them. A day later she had a lunch date at a Denny's with Leona, Carla and a few of the other hookers who were her good friends and who she used to keep track of what was going on in the Granite City underworld. She showed off her ring and told them of her engagement. The ladies all were so happy for Becky, and they insisted on celebrating. The group went to a place called The Landing Strip, an adult club by the airport which offered afternoon shows for ladies. Becky and her friends were set up at a table right by the runway where several really well built studs in thongs strutted their stuff and were spending a lot of their time at the little party who got very wild and rambunctous. Champagne and several much stronger drinks kept coming to their table, and Rebecca kept getting talked into one more glass, or to try one more different type of drink. The other ladies were stuffing bills into the thongs of the dancers, and Becky sort of recalled doing the same. She thought she could remember standing up and dancing to the music. She was up on the runway, her left hand holding the chrome pole as she swung around it. Her right hand went up and twirled... something... a brassiere?... in the air over her head. Oh shit! That was her bra! The next thing Rebecca knew, she was getting out of a cab with Leona at home. Only with Leona's assistance was she able to walk to the front door. Donna answered the door and was furious at the state her daughter was in. Leona sheepishly apologized for letting the party get so out of hand. They put Becky to bed so she could sleep off her intoxication. As she was leaving, Leona suddenly recalled something. She reached into her large purse and pulled out Becky's brassiere. She handed it to Donna, and mumbled, "Ahhh... ummm... well, this is hers... really nice meeting you..."
Part Two
Becky was harshly hung over the next morning, and swore she would never again touch alcohol for the rest of her life. Lots of aspirin and coffee that day managed to put her in a better state by dinner time, when Dad got home and Arnie joined them. Donna did not bring up the events of the previous evening, and Becky didn't go into great detail about her wild activities. But the looks Rebecca got from her Mom during the day were harsher than anything Donna could had said. Dad brought up a question. "Well, now that you two are engaged, what's the schedule. Have you decided when you want to have a wedding?" Becky and Arnie looked at each other and they each figured that was something they hadn't discussed yet. "We haven't talked that over yet, Dad. We are not in a big rush, but I suppose we should figure out something." Arnie nodded. "Should we pick a date right away? I guess we have to figure that out first if we're gonna get all the details set up. Are we gonna have a big wedding?" Becky was about to respond when her mom spoke. "Do you want to invite people to share the event? You have family and friends, and they would be disappointed if they were not given the chance to be part of your big day. If you don't elope, you'll have a long list of people who deserve to be there." Arnie and Rebecca looked at each other and didn't reply. This was going to be complicated, and take a lot of work. After dinner, the four sat and chatted for awhile about some of the details that were needed for a wedding, then Arnie got up to leave. At the door, he stopped to hug and kiss his beautiful fiance. He whispered into her ear. "My dad went over to mom's place for dinner tonight. I think they are starting to reconcile, babe. If they get back together, I may ask you to move in with me." Becky was really happy to hear that bit of news. If she had a chance to move in with Arnie, that would be great!
The next afternoon, Rebecca grabbed the phone as it rang. She recognized Barbara Gordon's voice on the other end. "Hey girl. I need your help on something. I traced a certain clown from Gotham here to Granite City, and we may have to stop a little activity he has planned." Batgirl usually spoke in riddles on the phone, as she'd emphesized to Becky that you could never tell when something might be overheard. Rebecca figured that statement meant that the Dark Damsel had discovered the Joker was up to something here in Granite City, and there would be a little action tonight. Becky replied on the phone. "OK, friend, I think I follow you. Shall we meet someplace?" Batgirl spoke again. "In a half hour, on the corner where you enjoyed the great salad bar. See you." Becky was confused for a minute, then she recalled the place they met for lunch a few weeks back. They had each had a chicken sandwich and the salad bar, and the sandwiches had been terrible. Barbara had commented that she even thought the salad bar sucked, but Rebecca had joked that compared to the chicken, the salad bar was great. That place was on the corner of 70th and Regent, so she now knew where to catch up with Babs. And if anyone had been listening in they would not have a clue where the ladies were getting together.
Batgirl hung up the pay phone on a corner in the south part of Granite City and walked back to her bike. She had made all the arrangements, and hoped Glory Girl would enjoy tonight's activities. Two blocks away, a gray van sat at the curb with the engine running. Inside, a beautiful young woman in a purple body suit and a cat mask held the headphones for the listening dish that had been aimed at Batgirl. Shadowing the crimefighter this far had been tricky, but the tracking device on her bike had allowed the three vans to shadow her at a distance where they couldn't be spotted. Barbara's bike had a special electronic scanner built in to detect and jam tracking units, but the device Selina had hidden on the bike was a special ultra low frequency module that Catwoman had gotten from Lex-Corp. Selina felt she was finally going to get Batgirl in her clutches! She purred with excitement at the prospect. Her last chance at that had been stymied when that new heroine, Glory Girl, had been with Batgirl and the Huntress when they all fell into Selina's clutches. But the blonde had pulled a trick and turned the tables. Catwoman had gotten away, and she now owed the Granite City heroine a little taste of her whip for that. Batgirl had spoken to someone on the phone about a meeting... probably Glory Girl, the local crime-fighter. If that was the case, the pair would soon be once again at her mercy! Selina growled at the driver. "Don't you dare lose her. And if you get too close and she spots us, I'll take my whip to you. Argent, be damned careful!"
Ryan Argent, the van's driver, bristled at the rebuke. He calmly replied, "Yes, Mistress." But he was seething at being treated like a wet-behind-the-ears new goon. He was a trained villain's henchman and had spent many years working for some of the most notable evil masterminds. He'd even worked his way up to an important position in Lex Luthor's organization. He still wore a fancy Rolex watch that Lex had presented him with for work well done. That had been the pinnacle of his career. But one mistake setting up a ray unit had been his undoing. When Supergirl burst in to Luthor's lair, the ray unit had malfunctioned and the day had resulted in disaster. Luthor blamed him for the fiasco, and had fired him. Now nobody in Metropolis would hire him and he was stuck in Gotham City where half of the super-villains were maniacs. There was no way he would take a job with Two-Face or the Joker, they were too unstable. He'd applied with the Penguin, who was marginally better, but the guy was in the joint now. So he was reduced to working for this half-crazy dame. What a life.
The van with the Catwoman followed their target. Catwoman kept in radio contact with the other two vans that held back, but stayed close enough to be ready to help. The three vans held a total of twenty goons to help capture Batgirl when the time was right. The Dark Damsel pulled up and stopped at a corner, and when the before-mentioned half hour had passed, Rebecca Hooper in her garb as Glory Girl pulled up. "Hi Bats. What's going on here?" Barbara smiled at her close friend. "As I hinted, the Joker has a caper planned in the neighborhood, and is setting things up nearby. I want to hit the place early and catch him unawares, and since this is your town, it would be impolite to do this without inviting you along." Batgirl got on her bike, and the pair of cycles roared off. The van with Catwoman followed, far enough behind to avoid being spotted. The other two vans held back a little further, but still close. Catwoman was puzzled about one thing. She'd heard on the grapevine that Joker was planning something outside of Gotham, but the rumors she'd gotten had been that he was headed out to California to put a couple of porn merchants through the ringer. He and Harley had run across a sex flick called "Halley Queen Bets on the Jokah." Neither of them had been amused by the trash and were going to show the producers and director of the smut the dangers of mocking and making fun in a film of someone who was a homicidial killer. Catwoman would never admit it to either of them, but she thought the flick was hilarious. So what was Joker doing here in Granite City, just down the road from Gotham?
The two lady crimefighters pulled up near a building that stood on a corner, and Batgirl and Glory Girl went up to the back door and quietly entered. It was a good-sized place, a bar with meeting rooms and a large hall in back. Catwoman signalled the other two vans to catch up and they parked across the street. All the men got out and she smiled. If the two ladies were busy with the Joker and his men inside, they wouldn't expect an attack from behind by a swarm of her men. Selina smiled as she contemplated having Batgirl in her clutches and that troublesome blonde also at her mercy. She stood at the head of her men as she opened the door and they streamed in. There was a hallway and she heard voices a little further on, in the hall. She was rubbing her hands together as she anticipated her triumph! She reached out and pushed the doorway open and led her forces into...
It wasn't anything she had expected. Batgirl and Glory Girl were standing by a table in the middle of the hall. There were red, white and blue streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling, and a large sign on the wall said, "Congratulations!" The table was stacked with boxes wrapped in brightly colored paper and ribbons and bows. Glory Girl had opened one of the decorated packages and was pulling a sexy red negligee out of it. Standing to her right was Supergirl, and on the other side, next to Batgirl, was Wonder Woman. At tables nearby sat Big Barda, Star Girl, Gypsy, Huntress, Black Canary, Hawkgirl and Vixen. Rebecca was very happy when Babs had lead her into the hall and everyone yelled "Surprise!" Now all of the guests stared at the intruders and they was just as surprised.
Catwoman stared back and forth, taking in the lineup of heroines who were staring at her. She and her men could have taken Glory Girl and Batgirl, but... Gypsy, probably... Huntress, Black Canary and Vixen would have been a lot of trouble... Hawkgirl, Star Girl, and what little she knew about Big Barda would have made her avoid running into them if she could... but... SUPERGIRL and WONDER WOMAN?!? Selina could have had another two vans full of men and she would not have wanted to take on ONE of those two powerhouse ladies. Oh shit... what a mess. Selina cracked a smile, and broke the long silence. "Well, Glory Girl... ahh... what a great party -- I really didn't want to miss it! Sorry I'm a little late. My gift... ohh dear, I think I left it in the car. I'll go get it and be right back. Congratulations. When are you due?" She backed up a half step, and turned to try to get out. She knew it wasn't going to work. Sure enough, in a blink, Supergirl was on her right with a hand holding one shoulder, Wonder Woman was on her left side with a hand on her other shoulder. Both seemed casual enough, but Catwoman could tell there was no way she could elude the grip of either one of them. Batgirl walked over and leaned towards Selina. "It's not a baby shower, Selina. It's an engagement party." Selina continued to flash a sappy grin, as nothing was going right. She cracked another comment, "Well, sure! I was just kidding around." She wondered if her men would try anything stupid, but as she glanced around, she saw every one of them was standing with their hands up. She guessed they were not as dumb as they looked.
Part Three
On a planet far, far from Glory Girl's engagement party, human beings lived and loved and suffered and died. A world very much like Rebecca's, but it had many things that were different. On this world, there were people so similar that they could have attended Glory Girl's party and felt they were with friends. It was the differences that made this world important. On this world a group of costumed heros and heroines fought villianous characters and groups for control of the planet. You ask how this was different? Only in the names and appearances of these people. They were not Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man or Captain America, but they had the same heart and the same grit.
One of the people who fought for righteousness was a strange example. Her life was a mystery to the heroes and people of that world. Facts and rumors about her were reported. She had the power to shrink her body to small proportions, but small or full sized, the blonde woman was a calculating, fiece warrior who devastated anyone who opposed her. Nicknamed the Maid of Secrets, she had successfully fought foes that other heroes had a lot of difficulty with. In fact when the Celestial Goddess (one of this world's greatest heroines) had been captured by Count Intelligencia and Sinestra the Sorceress, only the fact that the Maid had also stumbled into the conflict resulted in the deaths of the two villains and the rescue of the Celestial Goddess. Asking the other to keep her existence a secret, the Maid vanished afterwards, and the Goddess wondered who the miniature warrior had been.
The Maid of Secrets had fled to avoid any chance of the Celestial Goddess finding out the real truth. The Maid had been Marilyn McKendricks, a patrolwoman with the Pine Branch Police when she had been kidnapped and recruited by a band of four young geniuses who had thought of taking over the world. At first they used their scientific knowledge to alter the woman, shrinking her body to twelve inches high and improving her agility, strength and endurance. When they finished she had highly enhanced recuperative powers and a telepathic link to the the Sinister Quartet. Their control made her do their bidding. As their agent, she used stealth to alter the world around her, furfilling the plans of the four as they bent the world around Pine Branch to ease their eventual being the power in the community, running everything in secret. But Marilyn soon saw that the group were not really evil. They worked behind the scenes, destroying forces that were the true menaces to society. The Maid of Secrets began to think she may be doing some good in the world. But when she faced the true evil of Count Intelligencia and Sinestra the Sorceress in their hidden lair, she kept secret who she was and where her abilities originated. When she rescued the Celestial Goddess, she begged the heroine to never tell anyone about who had come to help her. She feared what a group of true heroes would think of her for working for the Quartet in their secret agenda.
But the word leaked out and the media called her the Maid of Secrets. The Celestial Goddess broke her vow and revealed to the rest of the Terra Force what little she knew about the mysterious little heroine. Many were suddenly deeply interested in what was behind the curious individual, and Marilyn became fearful that the truth would get out. The Sinister Quartet had recruited select other individuals who had been miniaturized to act as other agents for them, and they had been the only ones who knew the truth about Marilyn. The Quartet decided to create a massive hoax to cover up their operation. The Maid of Secrets was revealed to the world as the Warrior Champion of the land of Dollainia, an area that was the last remnants of a destroyed planet. It was put forth that the Champion was searching the world for other survivors of her destroyed Kingdom, with her origins causing her to want secrecy. A woman who had become a puppet of the Sinister Quartet after Marilyn saved her life was miniaturized and given the task of playing the Queen of Dollainia. In fact, the place was created out of the space of an empty bunker beneath the surface of where the Quartet resided. But as Marilyn followed orders and gave support to thie story being given out to the world, she grew afraid and agitated. She was their heroine, and her missions brought her into conflict with horrible terrors and dangers. She became a cold, calculating fighter who killed when she had to. No one who died at her hands deserved any less, but it still tortured the young woman who never thought she would be driven to such measures. And the lies she was living meant that every encounter she had with the Terra Force caused her to tell these people more and more falsehoods about who she was and what she was doing. The super group asked her to join, as they worried she was too blood-thirsty to stay on her own. These heroes and heroines had been people she looked up to before she had gained her powers. How could she tell them her entire life was built on a lie?
She got some solice from Sarah, the woman who had been given the role of Queen of Dollainia. The red haired woman grew close to Marilyn and comforted her. In time, they grew to love each other, and Sarah's companionship was a place where Marilyn's mind could rest and recouperate after her excrutiating missions. The last mission had been the worst. Terra Force contacted her and said the daughters of Steel Maiden had been kidnapped by a sorcerer who the Warrior Champion had once battled. They asked her for help. She knew that to help them would be dangerous. But she did it anyway. The pursuit led to England and a mad, violent dimension where a horrible demon the Maid of Secrets had killed had been reborn. He wanted revenge on Marilyn and on Terra Force and all of them barely survived the battle. Warrior Champion nearly lost an arm and was driven mad with pain as she suffered intense agony to get close enough to once again kill the demon. The rest of Terra Force found Steel Maiden's daughters and opened a portal to get them home. But when they looked back, they found the Maid of Secrets had been trapped in the other dimension when the doorway snapped shut. It took months to find a path back to that dimension. They found Marilyn was still alive, but she only survived because in her mind she had become the vicious bloodthirsty killer that had been her cover story. She had become the lie. Brought back to Earth, she wanted to kill everyone. Only Sarah had been able to shut the rage down and start Marilyn on a road of healing that restored her.
Now, the two women stood in one of the laboratories of the Sinister Quartet and watched the four young people work on an experiment. Trevor worked at a machine that pulsed with power and hummed. "It is obvious that we have to discover some sort of inter-dimensional transport device so that if you ever get in that same mess, we won't have to wait for Terra Force to find a way to get you back. This should work." Marilyn immeadiately thought, "Should?" Marla turned to her and said, "Yes, it should." As usual, Marilyn had forgotten that the four could listen in on her thoughts. The twin sisters, Danielle and Denise, were at the far end of the room setting up a one-foot in diameter steel sphere that held instruments and sensors. The four were going to use the projector to produce a burst of modulated energy that should send the sphere into another dimension. Then they would fire the unit again and the sphere would return. Marilyn was looking forward to seeing if it came back in one piece. Most people looking at the four young people would discount them as young geeks, but each was a prodigy genius who was capable of doing amazing things. Together, the Sinister Quartet were able to do what the rest of the world thought impossible. Everyone got behind a heavy plexiglass shield and listened to the machinery build up in power for the experiment. Trevor threw a switch and the light grew very bright and in a flash, the sphere was gone. Marla smiled. "It worked!. Or maybe we disintegrated it..."
Part Four
Batgirl and some of the others rounded up the henchmen and used plastic cable ties to secure their hands behind their backs. Black Canary groaned. "Well, guess we have to call the police and have these party crashers hauled away. That will kind of bust up the party." Star Girl heard this and turned to look at Dinah Lance. "What! Aww, mannn! We all get together to have some fun and then..." Huntress shook her head and spoke. "No way. We're just getting started! Why not just lock them in the back room for awhile? We can call the local law in when we finish up." The other ladies nodded, agreeing with the impromptu plan. But Batgirl broke in. "Wait a minute. We can do that with all of the bozos except for Selina. I don't trust her and want her handcuffed in the corner so I can keep an eye on her. I don't want any chance of her slipping away,"
As the party got back in the swing, drinks (mostly non-alcoholic, Becky was happy to notice) and snacks were handed around, and they went back to opening some of the gifts. Glory Girl asked Barbara what was coming up on the agenda. "Are you going to trot a bunch of male strippers in here?" Batgirl chuckled, "Sorry, girl friend. With secret identities and stuff, we dodn't have any male strippers of catering crew here at the party. Everything was set up before we got here, and we figured we could relax by ourselves. We didn't ecpect the Catwoman to storm in!"
Huntress walked over to the side and punched some buttons on a jukebox, getting the tunes going. Vixen stood by her and pointed to a one-foot in diameter sphere that was hanging overhead. "What's with that?" Huntress glanced up and laughed. "Oh, when Bats and I arranged for this place, the owner said this room is used for their Saturday night disco event once a month. Says he packs them in!" Helena reached over to a switch alongside the jukebox and flipped it. At once the disco ball, covered in mirrors and miniature lights, began to twirl and flash. The other ladies glanced up and some laughed at the sight. But suddenly the ball began to vibrate and hum, and the light grew in intensity, becoming deep red. The smiles around the room vanished, and Batgirl cried out, "What the heck... Is there something wrong with it?" With her enhanced vision capabilities, Supergirl stared up at it and called out, "It's pulsing with some sort of energy, and the light is wavering in the red to infra-red range. Maybe I better take it outside..." Kara wasn't sure, but as she looked she could swear she thought she saw two different spheres trying to both occupy that same spot near the ceiling. Huntress, still standing by the jukebox, reached for the switch once again. "At least I can turn the damned thing off..." But before either of them did what she was thinking about doing, there was a high pitched whine that filled the hall. Everyone winced at the sonics, and the light grew extremely intense. Huntress tried to go for the switch, but it seemed that she suddenly could not quite reach it.
The sphere pulsed with power and a wave of energy swept out, flowing over the entire hall. The heroines were all stunned by the pulsations that washed their bodies, and stumbled backwards. Even the most powerful of their assembly, Wonder Woman and Supergirl, could not resist being pushed backwards by the event. All the women were dazed by the energy that pulsed through their bodies, their minds. None of them could concentrate on her surroundings, and they didn't know what was happening and what they could do to recover.
Rebecca was confused. Suddenly she seemed to be somewhere else. Had she been teleported away? She was laying on her back, naked, while a thick cloth tarp seemed to be covering her. It seemed like it was a huge red tent that had collapsed on top of her. She shook her head and wiggled along the ground, on top of more of the red canvas as she tried to find a way out of this. She wondered how this had happened and what had happened to her friends. The others were in a similar predicament. Laying naked under heavy layers of thick cloth, each of them was confused and worried about the others. Each of them wondered where she had been transported to, and thought of past opponents who may have caused this bizarre attack. Supergirl punched up at the canvas that covered her, but it would not tear, so she pushed her way to one side, trying to find the edge of the material that covered her. Batgirl slid along under the sleek blue-grey tarp that covered her, detremined to get to the bottom of the situation. One heroine, Star Girl, trembled a little as she looked to get out of her confinement. Courtney Whitmore had lost all her confidence when her costume, cosmic belt and shaft of power vanished. She worried that she was suddenly just a scared, naked 16 year old kid in a situation that terrified her. Catwoman was disturbed by the sudden change in circumstances. Where had she ended up now? She tried to slink along under the purple tent that was collapsed on her. She knew that if the heroines were similarly effected, she had a chance to escape. Whatever was going on would distract them just enough. And Selina was never one to waste an opportunity. She wiggled along under the heavy cloth that covered her, and hoped this would allow her to get away. In her cloth trap, Kara finally got to the edge of the material. She saw the light and she got to see out from under the material. And she was struck dumb, totally stunned by what she saw...
Part Five
In the back room, Ryan Argent had managed to find a steak knife in a drawer and saw off his bindings. He freed more of the men, and one of them had pried open a window in back. About half of the men slipped out, happy to be getting away from such a bad situation. Facing the likes of Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and the others had not been suggested when they hired on with Catwoman. But as the rest of the men prepared to take off, the lights in the room flickered, went out, and after a few minutes came back to normal. The seven remaining men who were there with him paused as Argent spoke. "Something may be up in the other room. I think we should check it out before we take off. It may be something we can take advantage of. You guys want in?" One of the men, called Highline by his buddies, spoke up. "We can take a look, but if those damned super bitches are all still in there, we are gonna book." So they followed Ryan as he moved to the door and picked the lock. It was easy - heroines weren't the only ones who hid lockpicks in their clothes. The crook opened the door a crack, peeked out into the hall. then opened it wide. He was confused. The women were not out there anymore. He saw only their costumes scattered about, laying on the floor. The only other thing of note were a handful of Barbie dolls scattered over the room. Then he saw a couple of the dolls move...
Argent sprang into the hall and reached down to grab one of the little animated dolls. It was a living, breathing, miniature person! He grabbed another one. He shouted to the other men. "Grab them! The bitches were shrunk, and now they're helpless... and worth a furtune to us!" The other men rushed in and ran about, grabbing the little figures who were still a little dazed from their transformation and not able to react fast enough to escape. Hawkgirl was about to take flight when a man grabbed her and wrapped his fingers around her wings and her body. Wonder Woman stared up at the looming giants who came at her and she could not shake off the befuddlement that ran through her mind fast enough to avoid one of the men grabbing her. She winced at the pain as the man squeezed her naked body. Huntress rolled under the open palm of one man who grabbed at her, and ran across the room. But a second man caught her. Argent held the pair of tiny women he'd caught, and watched the rest of the men scamper about, capturing the dolls they saw. He dropped the pair he had into a large cardboard box that was sitting on the gift table, and reached for another women who was running nearby. Kara still stood at the edge of her costume and shook her head back and forth sharply, trying to get rid of the dizziness she'd felt as soon as she emerged from the clothing she'd been trapped in. She saw Big Bar... emm... Little Barda scampering and trying to avoid a man's grasping hand unsuccessfully. Argent had bent down and grabbed the heroine, and Kara heard Barda squeal at the pressure on her body. Supergirl saw the women were helpless against the giants. Even Wonder Woman could do nothing since she had shrunk out of her belt of strength. But Kara knew, at any size, she was still super. At regular size, she could lift an ocean liner. Even at about one foot in height she still could mop up the place with these thugs. There was one guy reaching down at a tiny red-haired figure on the floor. Before he could grab Batgirl, Supergirl swooped up and plowed into his midsection. pushing him up and off the floor and letting him fly back and crash into the wall. She turned, and flew towards the one holding Barda and was going to deck this guy too, but not as hard. She didn't want Barda to go flying if he released her. Kara flew at Argent and as he saw the naked blonde doll coming at him, he instinctively put up his left hand to stop her. As Supergirl got close, she suddenly felt weak, and would have dropped from the air if Argent hadn't snatched her form out of midair. Ryan Argent held the figure who'd been flying, and he brought it up to his face to get a closer look. "Supergirl! The bitch who once ruined my life! You don't look too happy, bitch. What's up?" Kara didn't respond, but she was beginning to recognize the weakness and pain running through her body. It felt like she was being exposed to kryptonite, but where was it? Argent figured it out right away. The Kryptonian had been powerful until he held up his left hand in her path. His watch! The hours of the dial were marked with tiny, glowing green bits of the rare, alien material. The tiny chips of kryptonite on the dial, normally harmless to Supergirl, were enough to knock out the bitch at this size. He walked to the bar, where he'd seen a scissors and a roll of duct tape. He took off his watch, unclipped the band, and put the watch against her back. Then he took a length of tape and wrapped it around her belly, attaching the deadly watch to Kara tightly. He grinned as he looked at the suffering of the goddamn cunt who had gotten him in such trouble with Luthor. "Payback's a bitch... bitch!"
The men looked about, and didn't see any other tiny women scampering about. One of the men gave a cheer. "We gottem, boss!" Argent smiled as he looked at the others. They were accepting him as their leader, following his orders. It felt great! A man shouted, "OK, we caught these things, now what did you mean when you said they would be worth money to us?" Agent smiled. "When I started out, years ago, I worked for a guy on the West Coast who dealt in white slavery. He arranged for pretty young ladies to be snatched and moved into the harem and bordello market. He made really good money on it. But he once had contact with a crazy old magician who took a few beauties and shrunk them to a couple of feet tall. I saw the auction he ran on them and the bidding was crazy. There were men from all over the world who bid, and the tiny cunts went for nearly a quarter of a million each. There were men who would go to great lengths to have miniature pussy. If we offer these sluts on that market, we'll all be fucking rich. Also, that was for ordinary women. If we put Batgirl in a birdcage, what do you think the Joker, Two-Face and Penguin will bid? You know the interest that the slavery network has always shown for captured heroines. These ones have enemies, and have been rendered helpless. Every perverted millionaire on the planet will put in a big bid to own Wonder Woman!" The men nodded in agreement. One of the guys, holding a helpless Huntress, poked at the chest of the tiny heroine. "And until we sell them off, they are ours to play with. Hey, litle bitch, all heroines are sluts, you know..." He pulled her arms over her head and held them tight with one hand while the fingers of his other hands ran over her torso. A finger massaged and prodded at her crotch and another finger rubbed and poked at her breasts. She screamed at the attack and vainly wiggled, trying to get out of the man's grip. he chuckled in amusement. "Shit yes, the little bitch is getting excited. I can feel the fluids oozing out of her pussy."
The other miniature victims were grabbed by men who molested them the same way. Argent was enjoying running his fingers over the chest and crotch of Supergirl. He saw her wince and moan in pain, but he didn't poke too much. He cried out to the others. "Goddamnit, go easy on the little bitches! I told you they are worth big cash to us, and that won't be the case if you fuck them up to much. Mitch, Greg -- gather up those costumes and pack them up. They can probably sell for good money on internet auctions. And see if we have all the little cunts. Wait -- where is Catwoman?" Selina was hiding under the table that held the party gifts. A tablecloth ran down to the floor, and the men who had looked under the table in the search had failed to spot her as she cowered in the shadows by a table leg. She peeked out of her hiding place and felt real terror take over her. She saw the horrid way the men were treating the ladies they had caught, and she knew it would be even worse if they got their hands on her. She had been rough on them, as she never was very good at handling her underlings. If Argent got his hands on her... well, the tone of voice when he'd noticed she wasn't among the captives was nasty. She looked over to the doorway to the kitchen. If she worked her way over there, she might be able to get out of the building and... and what? Escape to a world where she was helpless, a toy or plaything for anyone who saw her? She had money, but like this she would not be able to get to it. And everyone she knew would sell her out to torture the little doll she was. In here she was screwed. Out there would be just as bad.
Only one other female was still free in the hall. After Stargirl had been zapped to tiny status, Courtney Whitmore had scampered in terror to cover as the men grabbed the others. The sixteen year-old had never felt the confidence of the other heroines she worked with. The fact that she was smaller and younger than them made her feel she didn't belong. Only the look of her costume and the power given her by her cosmic belt and shaft of power made her feel she was an equal to the other heroes. Now that she was naked, powerless, even smaller and threatened by perverted giants, she was terrified out of her mind. She had noticed on one end of the hall was a slightly raised platform where bands could set up for events that were held. It was only eight inches high, but there was a small opening in the facing and she scrambled over to duck into a hiding place. She looked in the hole and saw darkness. But anything in there could not be as terrifying as the danger in the hall, so she scampered in, crawling through dust and cobwebs. She cried and trembled at her predicament.
Part Six
They couldn't find Selina, and decided to keep playing with their toys. The goon named Mitch made a comment. "Rich guys must be pretty perverted, guys. I mean, it's fun playing with the tiny twats like this, but you can't fuck something this size." Another goon chuckled. "Quit complaining, Mitch. It's the first time any broad has ever claimed your dick is too big!" The others laughed. But Highline, who was molesting Dinah Lance with his fingers spoke up. "Oh, I think we can have a little more fun." He loosened his trousers, pulled them down, and pulled out his limp cock. Sitting down, he pulled the heroine close to his face and whispered to her. Everyone heard Black Canary scream out. "NEVER! You won't get that from me, you perverted sack of shit!" But he held her tight and began to smack his fingers against her ass. She screamed from the painful punishment, and her ass grew red. Finally she relented. "OK! I... I'll do it." He dropped the tiny lady in his lap, and threatened her. "Do it right or I'll take the skin off your butt!" Black Canary moved to the monster cock and put her arms around it, then began to kiss and lick at the head. It soon grew erect by her and she took a step back in horror at the size of it, as it was huge in comparison to her. Highline's hand came up behind her and poked at her sore ass, pushing her into the cock. "DO IT!" Dinah hung her head for an instant, then followed orders. She climbed up on the stiff dick and wrapped her arms and legs around the trunk. She rubbed her torso against the thing, and kissed and licked at it as she moved. The crook leaned back and groaned in pleasure at the sensations his cock was experiencing, and soon came, spraying his cum. The other men, having seen this, all began to chatter. "Holy shit, that was great! How did you every get that idea?" Breathing hard, Highline smiled and answered. "I've been to a website that is devoted to weird meta-human sex rituals. It described how Mr. Fantastic, with his rubbery cock, fucks his wife so deep she goes crazy. It mentioned how the mini-bitch in the Avengers does it this way with her husband. There was a description of how Scarlet Witch mesmerizes other heroes to fuck her. It said Superman can fuck a bitch and when he cums in her, he blows her brains out."
In the cardboard box, Rebecca snorted. "that's not true, Superman does not..." Alongside her, Barbara Gordon looked over at Glory Girl and gasped. "Becky? You and Superman? When the hell did that happen?" Rebecca looked at her best friend and grimaced. "Oh, geez. I''m sorry, Babs. I meant to tell you but it was kind of embarrassing. And the story was so complicated..." Their conversation was interrupted as the goons grabbed up the women and began to force the captives to do that same vile act. Wonder Woman was spanked over and over, but despite her blood red ass, she refused to do what they asked. Greg finally went to the bar, reached back and grabbed a glass and a bottle of scotch. "I'll just have to get you in the mood, bitch." He poured a glass of the stuff, took a swig, then held the Amazon Princess upside down and dipped her head into the liquid. She held her breath as long as she could, but then she had to try to breath and drew a measure of the booze into her. She coughed, and coughed and Mitch yelled at her. "You do it or you get dunked again!" Woozy from the alcohol, she began to work her body over the man's cock. All the others were forced to do the vile pole dance for their captors, and they suffered from the misery the were subjected to.
Under the stage platform. Courtney quaked in terror as she saw what her friends were being subjected to. She couldn't do a damned thing to help them, and hiding in the dark she had to know that if the men had gotten their hands on her, she would be going through the same hell right now. In another little hiding spot, Selina Kyle fumed at the horrors the women were being subjected to. They were her enemies only a short time ago, but now she was on their side. She wished there was some way to help them. The other miniature ladies had friends who would help them, and connections to people who might be able to help them resume their original size. Selina knew she had to throw her lot in with them to have any chance. But what could she do? Slowly, a plan formed in her mind.
The men were sitting or laying about the room, being sexually satisfied by the bizarre ritual that Highline had shown to them. Ryan Argent lay on a couch with Supergirl being forced to rub his cock. It felt great, and the fact that the Kryptonian bitch was doing it meant so much more to him! Ryan suddenly heard a squeaky little voice from nearby, and he glanced down to the floor and saw another little female figure, nude except for a blue cape made of gift wrap tissue billowing behind her. He questioned her. "Catwoman? You didn't get away? What are you up to?" Selina bowed, and spoke. "I'm here because I want to be in your hands, Argent. You're the one in charge, keep me just for yourself and I'll be much more obedient to your wishes. I know you hate Supergirl and you hate me. How would you like it if you got the cock treatment from the two of us at the same time? Just for you... master!" Argent scooped her up and dropped her into his lap, alongside Kara. "Alright, slave. If you satisfy me, you stay in my lap. Otherwise you get passed around for everyone to play with. Get to work, Supergirl isn't very active down there." Selina noticed that the Kryptonian lass was weak, sweating, and breathing hard as she tried to massage and rub the massive cock with her arms and legs. Catwoman moved over and climbed on the cock opposite where Kara was, and began to work on it. The efforts of the two little prisoners excited Argent, and he moaned with pleasure. His head went back and he lay there ready to enjoy the activity. But when his eyes were no longer on her, Selina brought out a small sliver of sharp metal she'd found on the floor and hidden in her makeshift cape. She reached around and cut at the tape holding the watch to Supergirl. The edge of the fragment cut into the palm of her hand, and she winced in pain as she tried to free the heroine. One side of the tape parted, and she switched to Kara's other side. She whispered to Supergirl, "Keep stroking him. Don't let him look down here to see what's happening!" Kara nodded, and pushed every bit of strength she had left into massaging the prick with her arms and legs. Selina finally cut through the tape again and the watch came free. She reached over and pulled at it, lifting it and finally flipping it to the side, where it dropped with a clatter to the floor. Argent moved a bit, but Selina worked hard at rubbing her entire body against the man's cock, and he settled back with a huge moan of pleasure. After a couple of minutes of this, Kara whispered to the villainess, "Drop free, and watch the fun!" Selina slid to the side and watched as Argent moved upwards and begin to scream. For Kara had lifted the man just with her hold on his cock and then threw him across the room. She flew about, smashing into each of the other men, pummelling them until each was knocked out. Then she flew to the bar. She was about to grab that roll of duct tape when she saw an entire case of the stuff behind the bar. She smiled, then took roll after roll and wrapped the hoods up until they were trapped like egyptian mummies. Then she flew them into the back room and stacked them up.
Part Seven
The tiny women stumbled into the center of the hall, and they were happy that they had been delivered from their torture. But they were hardly out of the woods. Huntress came out and voiced their concerns. "Thanks, Supergirl. But we're still stuck as mini-people. What the hell are we gonna do to get out of this mess?" They all had somber looks on their faces as they looked about. Wonder Woman groaned and staggered in place. She was still woozy from the dose of liquor she'd been forced to take in. Batgirl made a comment. "We're still alive. We have to contact the JLA and hope that somebody can figure a way to reverse what was done to us. Oh god, do I need a bath..." Supergirl flew in the kitchen and filled a small bowl with warm water, then brought it out into the hall. They found a clean bar rag and tore it into small pieces, then they began to get themselves cleaned up. They felt a little better, and wrapped pieces of the rag around themselves like towels.
But all of them looked up as they saw the disco sphere mounted on the ceiling start to pulse and glow with energy once again. Rebecca groaned. "Oh shit! Not again! We can't afford to get any smaller!" Supergirl lept up and flew towards the unit, hoping she could tear it out and get it out of the building before further actions caused even more trouble. But as she flew closer and closer, the energy radiating outwards from the sphere began to push back at her, harder and harder. She reached it, but as she pressed her hands against the sphere, she could barely get a grip on it. It was pushing her back, and she was losing her strength. Hawkgirl flew up to try and help, then noticed something. When the energy pulse from the sphere had shrunk the women, the glow had been red to infra-red. Now it seemed to be glowing purple to ultra-violet, the opposite end of the light spectrum. Hawkgirl had a hunch, and she thought it was worth a gamble. She swooped over near the juke box and flipped the switch for the lights in the ball. As the little lights on it came on, it began to shudder and whine as it had done before. All the little heroines on the floor held their breath and stared up at the gizmo.
Then another burst of light and energy radiated from the sphere. Supergirl and Hawkgirl were knocked out of the air and the other ladies were pushed back from where they stood. Again they were scattered about the hall, dazed. Each of them tried to get her senses back, and wondered if she was now only a inch or two tall. Rebecca had her eyes closed from the throbbing in her head as she rolled on her hands and knees and struggled to get up. She cried out and winced as she cracked her head on the underside of the table. She hadn't realised she'd rolled under it. That damn thing caught her on the back of her head and it hurt like hell... but then she opened her eyes and saw the table was normal sized to her! She looked about and saw the other women, all groaning and trying to get up. They too reacted with joy as they saw they'd been restored to their original size. Becky dashed over to Barbara and threw her arms around her friend. They smiled, not knowing what to say at such a moment. Becky turned and saw Kara, and moved to hug her also. Barbara turned to someone and locked her arms around the woman, murmuring, "Oh god, we made it!" Babs suddenly noticed that the person she was embracing was Selina Kyle! She jumped back, and yelled, "Selina! You are going to jail for what you've done this time! You won't get away..." But Supergirl put her hand on Barbara''s shoulder. "Batgirl, she risked a lot to help me. Those little bits of kryptonite were hurting me so bad they might have killed me. If not for her, none of us would have been freed. When the light show came up again, the men probably would have pulled us out and we would still be their little prisoners. We owe her our freedom." Glory Girl spoke up. "Can we let her go, just this once, Batgirl? Don't you think she deserves it?" Barbara was stunned. She stared at Rebecca, then over at Kara and all of the others. She could see they all were in favor of this. So she slumped her head and sighed. "OK, Selina. We'll let you go. But I'm only giving you a day's headstart. If I see or hear of you after 24 hours pass, I'll be coming after you!" Selina looked up. "That sounds fair. I"m sure we..." But Wonder Woman and the others had found the boxes that held their clothes and gear, and the Amazon Princess had come back with her golden lasso. She flipped a loop over Catwoman's neck and spoke to the villainess. "Catwoman, you will forget the faces of the ones here you saw without their masks. I don't want you to figure out who Batgirl and Glory Girl really are!" Catwoman stood still, mezmerized while the women redonned their costumes and masks. Then Selina put on her outfit and walked towards the door. She stopped, turned back to the gathering, and smiled. "Well, Batgirl. It's been fun. You really know how to throw one hell of a party." Then she was gone. Vixen glanced down into the box that had held the costumes and noticed some gear still in there. She recognized the blue top and shorts. "Hey, what happened to Stargirl? I haven't seen her since we got shrunk." Black Canary grimaced. "Oh no! If she got out of the building, she may be out there someplace still a foot high!" A voice came from one end of the hall. "No, I'm... I'm down here. But I'm stuck!" They all looked about, wondering where the voice was coming from, but Supergirl's extra vision powers allowed her to see the girl still under the stage platform, but now at full size and pinned in place by the supports. "I heard you capture the men, but I was too frightened to come out. Then when I was finally about to, the flashing sphere made me dive back in here, where I banged my head and knocked myself out. When I woke at normal size, I was stuck here!" Supergirl peeled part of the platform away to free Courtney, and Stargirl brushed most of the dirt and cobwebs off herself before grabbing her costume and putting it on. After she did, she moved to Supergirl's side and looked over. Then she sighed. She was still the shortest. She had really hoped that when the gizmo enlarged her, it would have given her an extra inch or two!
Black Canary used the phone to call the cops, and Rebecca finished opening the gifts while they waited for the police to arrive. She packed up the stuff she'd gotten and went around to thank everyone for coming to her party. She and Batgirl packed the gifts in a couple of duffel bags and went to tie them to the back of their bikes. But when the got outside, Glory Girl's motorcycle stood alone where they had parked. They looked about, and Rebecca asked, "Babs, where the hell is your bike?" Batgirl got extremely agitated, and shouted. "GODDAMN IT! SHE STOLE MY BIKE!"
Far off, on that very distant world, the Sinister Quartet looked up to see the results of their experiment. The sphere had returned. Daniele looked over the telemetery and tried to make sense of the readings. "Did we get the return signal out to the sphere? It seemed like it had gone far beyond where we could keep it touch with it." Trevor looked at his monitors. "No, I think the signal never reached it. But the sphere had a back-up system in it that was set to automatically power up a reverse energy pulse to return it here even if it didn't get our signal. How are the recording units inside it? Can we figure out exactly how far it went?" Marla had trouble getting the access plate off, because the outer surface was pitted, dented and really beat up. Finally it popped loose. "No good. The stuff inside is all totally fried. No records of anything about the trip this thing made." Trevor cursed. "Oh, damnit! All this trouble and we don't know how far it went or if it encountered anything or anybody out there." Marla, who was examining the outer surface suddenly gasped. "Oh my... I think we can be sure it ran into something... or somebody. Look!" The Quartet assembled by the sphere, and Sarah and Marilyn came over to also get a look. All of them were surprised to see the tiny handprints that some miniature person had pressed right into the tempered steel of the sphere's surface!
---< Author's Note >---
This chapter of the adventures of Glory Girl was inspired by the Officer Dolly stories done by Skytower at the story pages of Scarlet's Sanctum. I have long enjoyed that series of adventures of the wonderfully crafted character. I decided to do an adventure where Glory Girl and others would be subjected to the perils of miniaturization, and in doing so I decided to borrow the world of Officer Dolly, the Mystery Woman, and use a mangled version of her story as a chapter in this tale. I made the origin of the energy that shrinks the ladies come from a far-off world where Officer "Molly" exists. If any of you have not yet read the Officer Dolly series, go and do so now!
I am very interested in hearing from you readers about how you feel about my stories. Please e-mail me at therat4040@yahoo.com and tell me your opinions. Alias the Rat 11/08
A little bonusGlory Girl story...
Episode 10A: The Fan
by Alias the Rat
Rebecca had taken part of the morning to do some shopping. She returned a few things she'd gotten at the party the evening before, and took just a quick look through the stores at wedding gowns. Just doing this for a short while made her dizzy. They were all so beautiful. She could hardly imagine seeing herself in such a wonderful gown. As she zipped home on her motorcycle, she got a cell phone call from Barbara. She pulled over to the curb to take it. Babs called to let Becky know that she'd gotten her bike back. Selina had borrowed it and left it parked in front of a police station in Gotham, where Batgirl was sure to get word of where it was. Apparently Catwoman had only taken it to irritate Batgirl. She must have decided if Babs was going to act as if she would not forgive Selina for the past, all bets were off. Batgirl said she would be spending the day scouring Gotham for her nemesis. Becky chuckled, and wished her friend good luck. Getting her bike rolling again, Becky was looking forward to showing Mom the clothes she'd gotten in exchange for the returned gifts. She pulled into her street and approached her house when she screeched to an abrupt halt.
She looked over at her driveway and her heart sank. This was bad. No, worse than bad. There was a car in the driveway, and it had Arkansas plates. That meant Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bob were in town. She was her Dad's sister, and she'd married the fellow and moved to the Ozarks to live on a farm and grow ginseng. Every so often they came up to visit and nit-pick the Hoopers and point out everything the family was doing wrong. Lisa would point out that her brother should have gotten a better job. They would point out how Pat should have married one of other girls he knew in high school, instead of Donna, who was a very nice person, for someone who was just a plain old housewife and not really that good a cook. All of these comments were the result of the visitors being totally unaware of the dual lives the Hoopers had lived. They didn't know that Pat was the famous masked hero, Mr. Patriot, and that the boring housewife he was married to was actually the Shady Lady, famous and beloved heroine of Granite City for many years until she retired after getting married. Growing up, they thought Rebecca was too skinny, too loud, too everything compared to their girl, Amy Sue. The only good thing about their visits was that the last couple of trips, Amy Sue didn't come with them.
Rebecca sat on her bike in the street not really wanting to go into the house. Maybe she could go over to Arnie's and stay for a day or two... Then her phone rang. When she answered it, she found it was Mom. "Becky, I heard your bike coming up the street, and when I looked out, I saw you parked out there. Get in here!" "Oh, Mom, I don't want to see them! Can't you just say I'm in the hospital?" "They would want to come visit you..." "Tell them I'm terribly contagious!" Donna Hooper's voice grew icy. "Young lady! They were in Gotham for a convention of ginseng farmers and wanted to stop by and visit. When they heard that you were engaged, they really wanted to see you. Get in here!" Becky sighed, and parked her bike. Then she reluctantly walked in the front door. Her aunt and uncle were in the living room with Becky's parents, and Aunt Lisa came over and threw her arms around her niece. She hugged tight and spoke with enthusiasm. "Of Beck, we're so happy about your news! Your parents say the fellow is a real nice boy with prospects. You must be very happy!" Becky smiled and nodded.
A voice came from behind her, and Rebecca looked around to see her cousin on the stairs. "Hey, ReeBee! I'm looking forward to meeting your fiance. He sounds really sweet!" Becky greeted her cousin. "Hi, Amy Sue. It's been a while, how come you didn't stay home this trip? Just felt like you'd like to see the big city again?" Amy nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to see the sights and do some shopping up here. And I really wanted to see you, girl!" The six of them sat in the living room and began to chat about life on both sides of the family. The visitors spoke of the convention and about how the farm was doing back home. The Hoopers gave a highly sanitized version of the past year's events. They could not mention anything about the activities of Mr. Patriot, Shady Lady or Glory Girl in the recent past, but did go over the enchanted necklace and how Becky and Donna had suddenly found themselves in the position of priestesses to a native american diety. Bob, Lisa and Amy Sue were stunned and fascinated by the story, and asked for more and more details. Donna and Lisa went into the kitchen to put together something for lunch, with her aunt mentioning that she would have to get some cookbooks for Rebecca as an engagement present. "Your beau will be happiest if you show him you're a good cook. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, they say!" Becky groaned, then suddenly realised that she wasn't very good at cooking, and wondered if Arnie might assume she was. Maybe a few cooking lessons wouldn't be a bad idea. Once they were married, they couldn't live on pizza.
At lunch, in the midst of more conversation, it was brought up that the visitors could stay one night before they had to get back to the farm. They had just planned a quick trip up to Gotham for the convention of ginseng growers to check on new techniques for their operation. Amy Sue had asked to come along and insisted they swing over to Granite City long enough to visit Uncle Pat and Aunt Donna. That puzzled Becky, as the past couple of trips, her cousin had insisted she had too much going on at home to accompany her folks to visit. Amy asked her cousin, "ReeBee, you think we could do a little running around town this afternoon? I'd like a chance to see the sights." Becky reluctantly agreed, and they took Amy's bag upstairs to Becky's room to unpack.
"So, Amy, how is your boyfriend? Any plans to get serious?" Rebecca's question brought an unhappy reaction as Amy sighed and had a miserable frown. "That's all over. I found that turd in a compromising situation with Marla Cochrane one afternoon. They were in the barn with his hand where no man's hand awughta be!" Becky was shocked, and felt sorry for Amy. "In her blouse?" Amy made a face. "No, she didn't have any top on when I got there. And his hand was due south of her hooters!" Becky groaned. "Oh, geez, Amy, that's terrible. Sorry to hear about it." "Yeh, I got hotter'n a lady should, and kicked him right in the balls before I stormed out of there. Which is one reason why I wanted to come with my folks on this trip. You know, ReeBee, I see you still have that poster of Wonder Woman on the wall. I... I guess I should apoligize for teasing you about that when you were a kid. It wasn't right for me to do that. Nowadays, I'm become a big fan of a new lady on the hero scene, and I've got her pictures on the walls in my room." Becky found this interesting. A new heroine? Hmmm. Stargirl had only been in the spotlight for about a year. That was probably who Amy was... Her cousin interrupted Rebecca's train of thought. "She's an inspiration to me. I joined her fan club and I worked my way up to regional vice president of the society. When Mom and Dad said they were coming to Gotham for a couple of days, I talked them into bringing me along and making a side trip to Granite City. I really want a chance to see her in the flesh. Maybe I might even get a chance at Glory Girl's autograph!" Becky was stunned! Amy Sue was a big fan of Glory Girl without even knowing she was a close relative of the heroine!
Becky hopped on her motorcycle and Amy Sue climbed on the back. "We'll go around town and do some shopping. I don't know if you'll see Glory Girl. I live here and... I've never even seen her." Amy Sue groaned. "Shoot. If you haven't seen her, what are the chances I might in my little visit. I didn't even get an answer from my fan mail letter I sent her." Becky felt bad when she heard that. In the house, down in the basement were a couple of bags of mail sent to Glory Girl that she had been putting off going through. If half of those letters were from people who were fans like Amy Sue, she really should take care of that. They stopped at a mall, and the girls went from store to store looking over clothes and accessories.
As they rode towards a mall on the other side of town, they heard sirens nearby. Becky pulled over as a fire department ladder truck rolled by. They looked over and saw smoke pouring out of a multi-story apartment building several blocks away. Rebecca wondered if there was anything Glory Girl could do to help, but then worried how she could slip away from Amy. As she thought about that, Amy lept off the back of the bike and ran towards the fire. "She might be there! See you later!" Given this opportunity, Becky ducked in an alley and donned the red and blue costume and tri-colored mask of Glory Girl. She lept to the roof of the building next to that alley and jumped from roof to roof until she was across the street from the building engulfed in flames. Some of the fireman were aiming hoses and spraying water on an attached building to the north, as the fire was spreading that way. Looking down at the street, she saw the fireman holding back a women who was trying to run inside. She screamed that her little girl was still up there. Becky looked about and saw a child standing inside one of the fifth floor windows. The little one was banging on the window pane, unable to get it open. None of the firefighters seemed to have seen the child, so Glory Girl braced her legs and jumped across to land on the fire escape near that window. It was stuck, so she signaled the child to back up and kicked out to smash the glass. Becky reached in and grabbed the little girl, and was going to take her to safety when she sobbed and cried out, "No! Mr. Whiskers is still in there! Please! You have to save him!" Glory Girl listened, and she faintly heard a creature meowing in the apartment. Putting the girl down on the fire escape, she told her, "Stay here and don't move! The firefighters will come for you." Then Rebecca stepped though the window, being careful not to touch the broken glass. She looked about, but the smoke was getting thick. Then she heard the cat once again, and scooped it up. It wiggled a bit, but heroine and feline got back out on the fire escape quickly, Rebecca handed the cat to the girl, who began to chatter a lot of gratitude. Becky smiled and sneezed. Still allergic to pets, she admitted. She grabbed hold of the child and cat and leapt down from the fire escape to the street, and passed the girl to her teary mother, who also was stammering as she tried to thank the heroine. Becky's eyes stung as a batch of smoke swept down into the street. She looked up and saw flames were starting to shoot out of the window she'd been at. Wow, that had been close! And then she sneezed again.
She moved down the street, stopping for handshakes from the firemen who thanked her for the assistance. As she reached the barricades, a couple of reporters asked her about the rescue, and many other people were shouting for an autograph. Glory Girl heard a voice that was familiar, and she turned to find herself face to face with... Amy Sue! Her cousin has holding out a Sharpie pen and a copy of Amazing Super-Heroines Monthly that had a great color photo of Glory Girl on the cover. Amy stammered, "Ca... ca... can I have an autograph?" Becky panicked. What if her cousin recognized her? She quickly turned the other way and moved down the street. Behind her, Amy Sue's face sank as her hero wlked away. Amy tried to move down the barricade to try again to get her attention, but someone else trying for an autograph knocked Amy aside. Her pen flew from her hands and the cover of the magazine was torn in half. Amy bent down to get the pen, and by the time she stood up, Glory Girl was gone. Becky changed back from her costume and was at the bike when Amy returned. Rebecca looked over at her cousin and asked, "Did you see her? You sure were lucky that we happened..." But Amy looked miserable and there was a tear running down her cheek. "I was so close... I thought I could get an autograph, or at least shake her hand... but she just ignored me and turned away. Like I was nuttin." Becky asked her cousin if she wanted to do any more shopping, but Amy only wanted to go back to the Hooper house. "I wanna take a shower. I smell of the smoke. Wow, ReeBee, so do you." Becky thought fast. "Yes, I was over in the crowd too, trying to see Glory Girl. The wind pushed that smoke right into us."
At home, the cousins sat in Rebecca's room while she tried to cheer Amy up. But Amy poured out a litany of miseries. "Oh, ReeBee, why can't I be as lucky as you. You were always so pretty, so well liked. You were a cheerleader in high school, you have a nice boyfriend who is going to marry you. I had one boyfriend who stabbed me in the back, I finished my schooling to be a dental tech only to find out the economy is so bad I can't get a job. I find somebody I really admire and she didn't even want to look at me." Becky was stunned to hear that her cousin had been envious all this time. "Well, you don't know that. Maybe she just had to hurry off to some other emergency." Becky suddenly sneezed. "Oops, sorry." Amy responded. "Bless you, darlin'. You mind if I just lay down up here and rest for awhile?" Becky nodded, then went downstairs and looked over the morning paper. After a few minutes, she had a thought and went down into the basement where she opened a bag of the fan mail. Flipping through it, she found the letter from her cousin. "Dear Glory Girl: I am really a big fan of yours and like the way you try to help people. I am in your fan club and hope to see you when I visit Granite city next week. I will be staying with my Uncle Pat Hooper who is a retired police officer. I hope he will have many interesting stories about you. Bestest, Amy Sue Lockhart." Becky read the short note over and over, and began to realize for the first time how devoted some of her fans were. Then she got up, and glanced at the clock. She had to run to the mall for something once more before dinner. At dinner, Amy Sue felt a little better, and the three visitors were all happy to meet Arnie. Aunt Lisa had whipped up a dinner of her great home-made lasagna that her brother really liked, and Becky noticed Arnie also raved over it and had three huge portions. Well, if he liked it that much, she resolved she was going to have to get Aunt Lisa to show her exactly how it was made.
Next morning, the trio were getting their bags together and carrying them out to the car when a panel van pulled up. The driver popped out and walked to the group. "Hi. I'm delivering something for an Amy Sue Lockhart." The cousin walked over, and the delivery man handed her a long mailing tube. When she opened it, she screamed. "Momma! Daddy! LOOK!' She unrolled a huge life-sized poster of Glory Girl. Along the bottom was written, "Best wishes to a really big fan of mine. GLORY GIRL!" Rolled in the poster had been a small note. Amy snatched it up and read. "Oh, wow! She said she couldn't stop by to shake my hand, but since I said in my fan letter I was gonna be at the Patrick Hooper residence, she wanted to send me this!" Now very cheered up. the families hugged all around as Uncle Bob was itching to leave. He spoke, "Well, Pat, it was really nice to see you again. But I gotta long drive. Got some info at the convention that's gonna really improve my crop yield next year." Amy embraced Becky and whispered in her ear. "Thanks for the poster, ReeBee." Becky whispered a denial. "What? I didn't send that to you, Glory Girl did!" Amy chuckled. "I know. But in thinking things over last night, I remembered a few details. Yesterday you smelled of smoke a lot worse than I did. And I still recall the time I brought Topsy along on a trip out here. You were sneezing and sneezing until we put him out in a cage in the garage. Glory Girl sneezed the same way after rescuing that cat. And then you did." Becky leaned back, and the two cousins smiled at each other. Amy held up her hand with a couple of fingers crossed. "It'll be our secret, ReeBee."
---< Author's Note >---
What's this little tale doing here? Well, in re-using famous bits from comics and comic history, I thought of the old secret identity sub-plot and how hard comic book characters fight to keep their secrets. In another vein, I wanted to establish a little backround about Becky's close relatives. And just family in general for a costumed super-heroine. Also, I wanted to cover the question of what heroes do with fan mail.
I am very interested in hearing from you readers about how you feel about my stories. Please e-mail me at therat4040@yahoo.com and tell me your opinions. Alias the Rat 11/08