METROCITY
Halls of the Superheroine Battle Arena
Jade Detective stepped sideways into a doorway just as a SparBot plodded its way noisily around the hall corner towards him. Most of the minor magiks that he knew were only for clouding the vision or minds of the living, or for binding spirits. He had to rely on his own stealth to avoid these walking dead things. He waited until it passed then made his way into the computer server room, bypassing the mag locks in just under four seconds.
Standing in front of the massive banks of computers and equipment, the vision on his mask began peeling away the corporeal world into the spirit realm. “A-ha! There’s one.” Floating along the electronic current was an emp, a fairy-like spirit that lives near electromagnetic devices. He uttered a few words to bind the emp and it flitted before his demon mask eagerly.
“Video data, all matches and security footage of Valerie DeVille. Go.” The emp flashed back into the servers and began broadcasting images of the Dark Dominatrix into the jade mask and the detective quickly began processing it mentally.
He flicked through a few different streams of her victory over Ninjako and the kiss at the end of it. From the right angle he could see Ninjako’s eyes turn black, an indication of some kind of spell taking effect. He tracked some video streams and saw the same thing happening to Blackmare. Then when Chickfighter defeated Lucky Star he saw the reverse happen. Eye shifting from black to green.
**Editors note: This really did happen! Seriously, go back and check the old videos.**
This was pact magic. Dark Dominatrix made some kind of deal with something worse than the devil. She was binding the souls of the women she defeated. Giving their power to an otherworldly essence. Superheroine souls are an incredbily rare and powerful commodity on the black markets of the in-between realms. Exponentially more powerful with the power of the woman. But somehow Chickfighter broke the binding on Lucky Star. He wasn’t sure how though. It’s not like she cast a spell.
A guardian spirit floating near Jade Detective’s head clanged his tiny sword against his tiny shield to get his attention. Jade Detective instinctively stepped back into a shadow and slipped into the ethereal plane. A second later Ninjako dropped down from the ceiling and looked from left to right searching for her prey.
METROCITY
Commissioner X’s Safe Room
Molly regained consciousness and was confused and dizzy. She was mostly healed, and very thirsty, so she had slept for a while. Commissioner X was in the room along with several of the league heavyweights that she hadn’t really had a chance to meet.
Siren noticed her stirring, “Hey, she’s awake…”
“Good! We need all hands on deck right now.” said Commissioner X. Molly noticed that Siobhan was unconscious on the couch with bandages on her ribs and a makeshift splint on her leg. Her heart sank seeing her looking so damaged.
“…suffering…” muttered Midnight while staring at Molly. “…sorrow…”
Nike stepped in front of her and held a hand towards Molly, “Ignore the avatar, young warrior. She feels your anguish and feeds on it.” Molly took her hand and stood up. Nike looked her straight in the eye, “I know you grieve over the wounds inflicted on your sister, but right now we need the strength you displayed in your last bout. The mortal world hangs in the balance.”
“Ok.” stammered Molly, then looked confused, “Wait? The world?”
“Planar gateways have been erupting all over the world.” said Siren. “Spilling nightmare creatures out from… somewhere my people have a name for that I cannot even speak.”
“Jade Detective has been sneaking through the arena complex, gathering intel and reporting back to us.” said the commissioner. “According to him, the power source that’s allowing this other-dimensional being to poke holes into our side is the souls of superheroines. Souls that are being captured by your pal, the Domme.”
Molly’s head was spinning at the rapid-fire information overload. She really wanted something to eat and drink. Siren seemed to sense her discomfort and handed her an emergency ration pack and a bottle of water. “Thanks. Hey, where are we anyway?”
“My emergency bunker. It’s not on any of the arena schematics and I’m the power source so nobody can trace us here. When this room is locked down it’s completely impenetrable.”
“Feh.” muttered Jade Detective as he stepped into the room.
“Shut it, hornhead. Did you find anything useful?”
“I have a theory on how Chickfighter was able to free Siobhan. From a magic theory basis it makes no sense, but it’s all I’ve got.”
“Good enough for me.”
“Submission. Chickfighter didn’t pin her or knock her unconscious. She forced her to submit. That caused the binding placed on her by the Dominatrix to break. Because Siobhan couldn’t be in submission to two masters at once.”
“Well, that’s… interesting. Sounds simplistic.”
“Most truths are simplistic.”
“Ok, that gives us about 36 hours left to plan a strategy.”
Molly had a mouthful of protein paste as she spoke up, “Why? What happens in 36 hours?”
Siren put a hand on her shoulder, “That’s when the Dominatrix starts killing hostages.”
Charles flicked his hand up and a large screen began displaying the Dark Dominatrix making an announcement from the center of the ring. “…and the rest of your super whores are hiding somewhere in this complex. Unless you are here, promptly for the Sunday night match, I’ll just have to stage my own little exhibition match. I think Emerald and Ursa Mega versus all these tired hungry spectators… Now THAT sounds like an exciting match, don’t you think?”
“The stands are still full of people from your fight against Lucky. After the match all the SparBots activated, spread out through the complex and blocked all the exits. This whole arena of people have all been prisoners here for most of the week.
Molly thought for a moment. “Wait, 36 hours until the Friday match? Most of the week? How long was I unconscious?”