It was perhaps higher than the young Amazon known as Julia, had ever been in her life. Also known as Ultra Girl, the reddish-brown haired young woman rode up the exterior elevator of the high rise apartment complex. It gave her a fantastic view of the downtown area of the greatest city in the world, the city of Megapolis. The three towers of the Shay's Complex that overlooked its namesake park was only a couple blocks away. Julia could see the way the immense steel and glass behemoths surrounded the large, rectangular park in its midst. It was as if the earth had reversed herself; man was no longer surrounded by nature, but had placed nature under siege, and had captured her.
Julia Queen, daughter of Tania, the fourth Ultra Woman, stared in amazement at the scene before her. The greenery of Shay Park seemed like a small pond of nature surrounded by the artificial mountains of buildings around it. This was what she came to Man's world to see, she thought. Paradisia was safe and full of its own wonders, but Julia had longed to learn of the outside world when she first followed her mother to Megapolis.
Higher the glass tube rose, steadily climbing the apartment building's outer wall. Her sister, the dark, silken haired, oriental Amazon known as Rei Motoki to her neighbors, but known as Ultra Woman to the city and world at large. Fifth in the line of Amazon champions, Rei had grown used to the elevator, but it's sites could still be inspiring. She was casual, leaning calmly against the bannister, holding a set of books under her arm. Knowledge, her mother had told her, is the fulcrum from which everything could be moved, and Rei had taken it to heart. She had learned the hard way that to move through this odd world of men, one had to know what was occurring around her to know how to react.
All the knowledge didn't help with the situation she was in now. Queen Helen, Queen of the Amazons, had asked Rei to take Tania's daughter Julia 'under her wing'. The other girl, actually slightly older then Rei, had had a few adventures as Ultra Girl but the Queen felt she needed some seasoning by living with Ultra Woman and working with her. Rei really thought that the Queen figured Julia was a typical Amazon (naive, too trusting, and much too confident for her own good) and therefore highly at risk for long periods in this world. Why Julia was allowed off the island in the first place she didn't know.
Julia was also a bit annoyed by the Queen's command. Although she had genuine affection for her more serious sister and looked forward to moving into her apartment, she chafed at the idea she needed Rei to look after her. "Rei's very smart, obviously, but she's only 54!" Julia thought to herself. It was bad enough when Tania was always being so overprotective, but she at least was Julia's mother. Still, she realized, Rei did seem better at dealing with the outside world. Although Julia had been in Megapolis for several months now, she knew she still had much to learn about this city and the people in it. Perhaps being with Rei would help.
The elevator calmly coasted to a stop on the fifty third floor. The passkey Rei owned had allowed them access to the elevator, but she had to use a fingerprint from her index finger to get out of the elevator. Pressing it to a sensitive pad, she left it there for a few moments until a tiny red light blinked out and was replaced by the green dot of acceptance.
Rei sighed silently about the amount of security this place had. It made her feel like she was almost a prisoner rather then a resident. However, Captain Liberty had been quite insistent that she live here. It had been either here or his cavern base. While Rei enjoyed, to put the term lightly, his company, the actual accommodations leaved something to be desired. Besides, when Queen Helen asked (IE: commanded, loudly) that Julia come live with her the new place had the space the woman
The doors slid open silently a twin tube descended with some of her upper story neighbors. A middle age man, holding the hand of his dragon wife, couldn't help but glance, then glance again, at the two very attractive young women leaving the glass tube. The wife, on the other hand, saw her husband's object of attention, and gave the two girls a positively chilly glare until the tube descended down beyond sight.
Julia, oblivious to the wife's disapproving stare, looked at the older couple with a wide grin, much to the delight of the older man and displeasure of his wife. She wondered if the older woman had a health problem since, by the look on her face, she had just tried to use the bathroom but wasn't able to.
Rei had felt the ice cold stare upon her back and turn around to stare right back at the woman. After the elevator had descended, Rei looked back at Julia and just shook her head. "Like I'm interested in a husband," she laughed.
"Oh, is that why that woman was looking at us that way?" Julia replied with a curious look. "People in this city are very strange sometimes..."
"That is quite the understatement," Rei replied. "Typical babe in the woods..." she thought of her slightly older sister.
The two heroines, not in their uniforms but in casual attire more suitable for this world, walked down the hallway.
The Asian-Amazon's calf-length swished slightly as the two walked side by side. The stack of books cradled in the wrist length sleeve of her dress. Rei always tended to dress quite "dowdy". Longish, unfashionable dress with wide floppy hats were her normal clothes. That, combined with her hair in pigtails and darkish-blue lensed glasses, hid her Amazon beauty and presented to the world the classic 'bookworm'. The only real hint she gave of her beauty was that the top couple of buttons of her dress were undone to reveal a bit of the swell of her breasts.
Julia was wearing a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans with a dark blue, short sleeved blouse and carried a small dufflebag. Her hair was pulled back a bit and she walked comfortably in her white tennis shoes. She was still trying to understand how women her age in the city selected their clothing. Once, Julia had tried to copy the attire of several young women she saw outside a place called a 'biker bar'. Tania, however, had blanched when Julia had returned home wearing leather pants, heavy black boots and a torn half-t shirt with the words "Harley-Davidson" across the front.
The keycard again was pushed into a slot, and yet again the red light faded and was replaced by the green. A tumbler dropped, a latch was magnetically pulled back. Rei pushed the door open...
"Home sweet home" Rei said as she showed Julia inside. "Please excuse the mess but I had to move some items from your bedroom. I was using it as sort of storage space." The 'mess' Rei was talking about was piles of books, magazines, etc. all stacked neatly around the large living room. Dominating the room was a computer system of several monitors, keyboards, and at least 6 Pentium III towers all connected by a series of wires.
"Oh gosh, this is terrific!" Julia exclaimed as she stepped around the books and went straight to the cross-wired computer system. She moved from one screen to the next, examining what Rei was monitoring on each system. "How did you get all this stuff?"
If a person's eyes could actually pop out of their sockets, Rei's bouncing off the walls right about now as she saw Julia next to her pride and joy. "Ummm...various places," Rei said as she took hold of Julia's wrist just before the other girl touched a keyboard. "Captain Liberty showed me how to use a computer and I improvised after that. Its set up to monitor the internet for news of various kinds of crimes or events also database searches for certain items. For instance, what do the outsiders know about Amazons. The system is a bit overpowered but I couldn't help myself," Rei said with a shy smile. "All I ask is that you don't play with it. Its rather delicate but I'm willing to show you how to use it after awhile."
"Oh, I know a little bit about these machines," Julia replied. "Tania's friend Jessie took me to a coffee shop once that had these for people to use. A nice man there showed me how to....what did he call it?" she puzzled. "Zurf the Web? Anyway, what has Man's world learned about us?"
"I believe the term is 'surfing'," Rei corrected politely. "It comes from a quite unusual sport some of outsiders do. Standing on a board in the ocean with waves that can kill you in an instant does not seem to be a sport to me." Rei them remembered Julia's question. "Sorry! I can get lost on tangents at times. They've learned very little actually. 99% of what they think they know is incorrect I'm happy to say. For instance, they consider another woman to be the queen rather then Queen Helen! If I didn't know better, I would say somebody has been spreading false stories about us," Rei said with a smile. "Spreading myths about us that sound believable but are quite untrue. Obcurses the reality quite nicely."
"The kitchen is through there," the Asian girl pointed at a doorway. "We probably will have to do a little shopping as I don't have much food on hand at the moment. Some milk and fruit I believe. I tend not to eat all that much. Mother always said I was a picky eater."
"I'm sure whatever you have will be fine, Rei. I'm not too fussy about what to eat. The only thing Tania ever worried about in that area was that I'd eat too fast to be polite. The first time she took me to a restaurant, I think I embarrassed her when I ate all the food on the table while she was in the bathroom," Julia giggled.
Rei smiled back at the girl. "Tania does seem to be a person that would worry about such things. I haven't been in many restaurants here so I'm not sure of my manners either. I tend to associate with myself I'm afraid."
"And the bedrooms are that way," she said pointing to another door. "Oh...you don't have to worry about someone else being here. I don't have a regular partner." Rei blushed slightly at that statement. Silly but she should set Julia's mind at ease if that were to be a problem.
"Thanks, I'll go ahead and start unpacking," Julia replied as she entered the open doorway. She put her bag down and began removing clothes and items she had when she and Tania were living together. Julia placed a picture of her mother and herself on top of a dresser, then began to place her clothing inside the drawers.
"You favor your mother," Rei said as she came into the bedroom and saw the picture. "If you're half the sister that she is, you'll do quite well." She was being truthful with that as well. Julia did have potential she thought. If only she could lessen that damn 'naive' streak in her!
"Thank you, Rei," Julia replied with a smile. "I do hope to make her proud of me. And I'm sure staying with you for a while will help me learn more about the outside world."
Rei blushed a bit. She did so want to dislike Julia but the girl it damned hard not to like her. "I'll certainly try my best. Perhaps you'll be good enough that the Queen will let you be the champion rather then me. I was sort of volunteered for the position rather then seeking it."
"Speaking of food, is there a...a...," Julia paused as she tried to remember the name of the places that sold pizzas, "a pizzeria around here?"
"Hmmmmm...." Rei hummed as she recalled the layout of the neighborhood. "I believe there is place along those lines a few blocks away. If I'm correct, they don't have any seats but we could always bring some back here. We can get to know each other better or some food I think," Rei said with a smile.
"That sounds very nice," Julia said as she warmly remembered the last time she had pizza with Tania. "I think those kinds of places are called 'take-out only'. We can walk down there to pick some food up once I've finished putting my things away. This shouldn't take long."
"Since you mentioned Tania, I noticed she seems to be staying with Cap for quite a long time to recuperate," Julia continued as she put her remaining clothing away. "Is that the...er....ONLY reason she's staying with him?" Julia asked with a bit of a wicked grin. The sparkle in Cap's eyes whenever he mentioned Tania hadn't been lost on her.
Rei blushed BRIGHT red as she thought about that night that she, Tania, and Brian/Captain Liberty had slept together. She hadn't meant to join them but it just happened and she didn't regret it for a moment. "Um...well..." Rei stuttered as she tried to find a suitable answer. Also to make her face stop looking like a tomato. "Brian and she have a bit of an attraction I think. He's quite a good lov....man."
"Well, I'm glad she's happy staying with him for a time," Julia replied while trying not to giggle. Realizing she had unintentionally embarrassed Rei, Julia decided to change the subject after seeing her sister turn crimson over the question about her mother and Cap. "There, I think that's the last of my stuff put away. Shall we get ready to go out and pick up the pizza? The last one I had was topped with this interesting tasting fish called anchovies..."
"If its still like when I was with them for that while, she is certainly having a good time," Rei said wistfully. "Brian is talented...." Helping Julia close the drawer, Rei noticed that the girl had rather few clothes. "I don't know about the anchovies for me but we can also go shopping for some clothes for you. Interested?"
"Yes, that would be wonderful," Julia replied with a smile. "I didn't get a chance to get very much clothing in the short time I was staying with Tania. I've spent some time watching people in this city now, so I think I have an idea of what's suitable. Probably a few more jeans, some nicer pants and skirts, and a few different tops," she continued while looking down at what she was wearing. "Funny though, Tania had a lot of...er...items from a store called 'Victoria's Secret'. I don't think she could have worn those clothes outside!" Julia laughed.
Rei just blinked for a few seconds as she remembered her quick visit to Tania's apartment when she first arrived. There was a variety of clothing that she had thought very strange. With learning of things in this world, she had found out what they were. "So that's were those came from!" Rei said with a grin. "I don't think those kinds of things are meant to be worn in public. They're more what are called 'under garments'. They're suppose to restrain our breasts and cover our womanhoods even though we are wearing other clothes over them." Rei shook her head at how strange this world was. "I tend to avoid them whenever possible for comfort reasons. I can barely breath with a 'bra' on."
"Yes, I don't see why women would need to wear these 'garments' if they already had clothing on. Maybe the clothing in the outside world isn't as comfortable as what we're used to and they need them to protect their more...sensitive places?" Julia shrugged.
Rei shrugged as well. "They are quite silly in regards to clothes. Like they actually put clothes on when going for a swim!" "Well, now that I've put my things away, shall we go out in search of clothing and pizza?
"We shall," Rei smiled. "Oh... I believe most of the 'Victoria's' things that Tania had were more for intimate encounters. At least the beginning stages of them.... That reminds me, did Tania ever mention someone named Rachel or Amber? I know she and Tania were close just before Tania was taken by SPAY. I was just curious but Tania won't talk about her much." Rei was definitely interested in the demi-vampire who had betrayed her sister.
"Tania didn't tell me much about Rachel either," Julia said as she and Rei left their apartment. "I know that she went to the Island with Tania once to try to help her with her vampirism, but I don't know if they were successful," she continued with a look of concern. Julia wondered why her mother had been so reluctant to talk about her former companion and harbored suspicions about this strange woman.
Rei recognized the look on Julia's face and took the girl's hand in hers. "I think the reason why she doesn't talk much about Rachel is that she is the reason Tania was conquered by SPAY. I don't know the details but I know that much."
"SHE'S the reason Tania was taken by those....people?!" Julia exclaimed. Her eyes blazed upon hearing that this Rachel was responsible for her mother nearly being destroyed by the rogue organization. Julia shuddered involuntarily as she remembered her own experience at their hands. "Tania said Rachel was her friend! Where is she--"
The Asian girl looked into her sister's eyes. "Julia, promise me that you won't go out looking for Rachel. Least not on your own. She quite dangerous in her own right and has some dangerous people looking for her. Namely vampires and they want her dead I think." Rei had done some preliminary research but found very little to go on besides there being undead in town. "We'll make her pay sister for what she did to Tania. I promise you that."
Julia calmed herself somewhat as she listened to Rei's words. She knew she would be foolish to simply charge out in search of this person. "All right. I promise I won't go looking for her, at least not without help," she agreed somberly.
"Good enough," Rei said. "We'll get her Julia and we'll show her how Amazons repay traitors such as her.
"Whoa, my lucky day!" the redheaded kid behind the counter of Bonaducci's Pizzeria thought to himself as the two beautiful young woman walked through his door. He first looked at the oriental one in the dress. His initial instinct was the look at her friend until he noticed the way her tanned arms had muscle definition, and the way her legs moved under the dress. Then there was the two bulges of flesh that formed the cleavage on her chest. Her friend was wearing, besides the tight blue top that seemed to just cling to the most impressive set of boobs he'd yet laid eyes on, the best looking jeans he'd ever seen. The way her butt moved as she walked in the door...
Rei caught were his eyes were looking and just mentally shook her head for the billionth time. She so disliked how so many men of this world were turned on by a pretty body rather then what was inside. That was one reason she always tried to downgrade her appearance a bit.
Julia flashed her usual grin at the teenaged cashier who tried hard not to blush in response. She then turned to to the menu on the wall and considered what types and sizes of pizza the store served. "Hmmm, the 'wagon-wheel' pizza might be big enough..."
"Ummm..." he said, showing off his fantastic range of vocabulary. When he finally could speak, the kid's voice was a staccato of puberty-affected warbles. "Can I help you?"
Rei wasn't sure just what she wanted and studied the menu board closely. "I should like a small cheese pizza," she finally decided as it seemed the least objectionable.
"Actually, could we get anchovies on half of that pizza?'" Julia asked the nervous cashier. "Uh, if you don't mind," Julia said as she turned to Rei, "I think we might need a medium-sized pizza...." she continued with a sheepish smile.
"What she said," Rei said to the cashier, nodding at Julia.
He kicked himself mentally for his awesome display of sexual innuendo. "Umm, okay, I'll get that for you. It'll be a few minutes though."
"Thank you for you service," Rei said with a wink. She just loved to play with men a bit. If they were going to get turned on, she was going to stoke the fire a tad so when she left they would crash. Silly, but fun.
"Yes, could you bring that out to us as soon as it's ready?" Julia asked with a smile. The impressionable youth tried not to melt on the spot in response to the voluptuous women's request.
"And if you can get it to us quickly," Rei said to him with a smile. "We'll be sure to leave a big tip for a handsome young man." Gods help her, she was enjoying teasing this boy.
As darkness was falling over the downtown area of Megapolis, the streets were slowly emptying. The streets were safer than normal compared to most metropolitan cities, but this was more of a business district than shopping, and many people had since went home. A few cars zipped back and forth along the street, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Rei, you mentioned back at the apartment that you didn't have a regular...partner," Julia asked as they both sat down at a table. "Does that mean you're looking for the man you're going to have a child with?"
Rei just about missed the chair in surprise as she was sitting down. "Ummm...." she thought quickly about what to say without going into the gory details about the Plant Master incident. Something that she had told only Captain Liberty. "Not exactly... I just meant that I don't have a regular lover, male or female. The one man I tend to like is involved with another woman. The woman I could like is....well that's a long, LONG story. I just didn't want you to have to worry about running into a stranger at the place." Rei shrugged slightly. "Right now I'm with nobody in an intimate way."
Julia saw the tension in Rei's face at her inquiry and quickly decided to change the topic. "Well, thanks for your concern. When the time comes, either way, I'm sure you'll find a way to make things work out," she said sympathetically.
"Thank you," Rei said with a nod of her head. "I'm quite sure you'll be able to find the right person yourself as well."
"Now, about shopping for some more clothes. I saw some people wearing what they called 'business attire'...."
Then a car went careening down the street, followed by another. The next car that went by had a broken windshield. A man in a suit ran down the sidewalk, his eyes showing his panic. Like a trickle becoming a deluge, more people came running by.
Rei noticed all the commotion and stood up slightly to get a better view from the window. "Something's up," she said in a low voice to Julia.
Julia turned to the window and also saw the commotion just outside. "Yes, that's very strange. I wonder what causing all those people to to hurry in this direction?"
One of them burst into the pizzeria. From his gray suit, he must have been a businessman. "Hurry, call the cops!!" he yelled, his face red from fear and his exertions. "There's something tearing up the science museum!!"
"Something?" Rei asked in a hushed voice to her partner. "I do believe we should go take a look at least and see if we can help out. Up to it?"
"Yes, let's head down there and see what's going on," Julia replied while starting to rise out of her seat. "I'm sure that nice boy at the counter will keep our pizza warm for us," she continued with a wink.
"I don't doubt that for a second," Rei smiled. "You give him a few more smiles and we might get it for free."
The man rushed over to the counter and snatched the phone from the confused young man's hand. "Hurry up, hit 911! That thing is killing some old man!!"
"I think we should definitely take a look," Rei said, leading Julia out the door. "I saw an ally around the corner for here where we can transform."
Julia follow Rei out of the restaurant and rushed into the corner alley. She took a quick look to be sure no one watching them, then crossed her braceleted wrists in front of her. A flash of golden light enveloped Julia then quickly receded. She now stood wearing the red, blue and gold colors of her Ultra Girl uniform.
Rei copied her sister and was enveloped by a light of her own. When it faded, she was in her own uniform of Ultra Woman. Similar to Ultra Girl's but a bit more revealing in parts. After she made a quick check to see that everything was in place, Rei took off on a run out of the ally. Julia stayed right behind her.
There were fewer people running down the street as the two uniformed Amazons ran in the opposite direction. They reached the next intersection in moments. The building across the way was a large, gray marbled edifice from the turn of the century. A sign out front, as well as the etched lettering atop it, proclaimed it the "Megapolis Science Museum". Down the street to the right they could see glass scattered, as well as a car that had driven into the building across the street.
"This does not look good," Rei said to Julia after seeing the car. It looked as if the car had been forced into the building rather then a typical crash. "Somebody has a lot of power so we should be cautious.
"I wonder why someone would be attacking the Science Museum," Julia queried. "I read a pamphlet about the place and I don't think they have anything that's very valuable. Certainly nothing that would justify all this," she continued while surveying the chaos in before them.
"Depends on what somebody considers valuable," Rei answered. "Also depends on the villain. Some of them are naturally destructive."
"Ultra Woman!" a man shouted. Waving a hand, a security guard at the main doors to the Science Museum was trying his best to get the attention of the two superheroines.