METROCITY
Superheroine Battle Arena, Locker Room A
Molly laid down on the couch in the back room trying to gauge the extent of her injuries. Torn rotator cuff, bruised or cracked ribs, probably a mild concussion. She was thankful that she healed quickly but was not looking forward to the next twelve hours or so of waiting for her body to knit itself back together.
As she tried not to think about the pain, a woman’s voice with a strong Irish accent startled her, “Ye’ve got some moves there, Acushla, but I think ye’ve got to work on yuir staying power. A couple world class beatings and I bet ye’ll be able to take a punch like a champ.” Molly opened her eyes and it took a few seconds to focus. “I’m Lucky Star. But ye can call me Siobhan.”
The redhead carried a bottle of whiskey and two tumblers.
“Chickfighter…” said Molly and got up slightly on the edge of the couch. “Thanks for saving me…” Molly looked embarrassed for a moment. “Oh, and sorry about choking you with the leg scissors in the middle of that fight.”
“It happens, Pinky” Siobhan smiled and poured. “Heat o’ battle, fog o’ war, one too many hits to the noggin. Big cluster fight like that and accidents happen. Besides, with those skinny legs of yours it felt like a neck shiatsu.” Molly took the offered glass with a somewhat dejected look on her face. “Kidding, love. Just trying to make you feel better. Cheers!”
Molly sipped the whiskey “I don’t feel much like celebrating. I’m guessing I didn’t pass the tryout since you had to come running in to save me.”
“Oh, ye passed alright. They’re looking into it now but there was some kind of world-class malfunction with the rock-em sock-ems. We don’t know why three of them came after you like that, or why the the manual overide didn’t shut them down when you were in trouble. I’m just glad I was scheduled for a training session today so I could help you out. Trust me, you held yuir own in there. They’ll extend an invite, if for no other reason than to avoid a lawsuit.”
“Great. Well, it’s not exactly the big splash I was hoping to make…” Molly grimmaced. “But now that I’m here, I can show the league what I’ve got!”
“That’s the spirit, girl. And speaking of spirits hurry up and finish that glass.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner X sat in his office, talking to Dr. Sanji via a vid screen. He had questioned her thoroughly about the SparBot malfunction. “So you are sure of the exact cause?”
“Yes, Charles. Several diagnostics have been run, it was just a programming error and it’s been corrected. There is zero chance this could happen again. I promise.”
“Ok. Thanks, doctor.” The Commissioner was skeptical, but the doctor was the leading expert in pretty much every field of science related to the workings of the arena. He always trusted her judgement in the past. But something seemed off now.
Mukta Sanji turned away from the screen as it winked off and looked up at the Dark Dominatrix. “Did I do well, mistress?”
The Haitian woman smirked. “Oh, you did well. That was certainly fun watching Chickfighter get beaten by three giant robots.” Her eyes turned dark as she continued. “If only that Irish witch didn’t interfere. I would have liked to see your robots crush her bones under their metal fists.”
Feeling encouraged, Mukta reached up to caress the face of her mistress only to have her hand slapped away. “What do you think you’re doing? You are not my lover. You are not even my friend. You are my slave.”
Mukta looked at the ground with tears in her eyes. Valerie DeVille turned away and walked out of the control center, muttering curses. With Chickfighter in the SBA arena, she needed to advance her agenda quickly.
Valerie returned to her sanctum, to commune with the dark elder god. The great one was still ravenous for the wills of powerful women. Each one she subdued and made into a slave the dark one granted her a gift that increased her own strength. Valerie was literally licking her lips at the thought of making slaves of one of the superheavyweights, just imagining how strong she would become. She could manipulate the press to force the commissioner to allow her to fight again this week. But which opponent to face? Too soon for Emerald or Ursa Mega. One of the heavyweights then. The dark one already warned her against the goddess Nike and the avatar of death Midnight. So, that leaves, Blackmare or Siren…
“I shall let the great Cthulhu decide.”