Hi! Okay, so in case you didn't read the author's note in Ashes of a New Horizon, I am temporarily putting that story on hiatus due to a drainage of inspiration. I know, I hate it too. Curse you, muses! Please, please, PLEASE don't be mad at me! :( I figured the best way to get my creativity back was to work on something different for a while, so here I am! As I said in the summary, this multi-chapter story is about WordGirl becoming evil. No, I am not going to do the cliche 'evil ray/mind control/magical thingy/whatever'. She will become evil entirely of her own accord. Now let's get started.

This story was inspired by Envious to a T by Devin Trinidad. Miss Power's origin story was inspired by The Looking Glass Wars, written by Frank Beddor (actual book).

This story is completely independent of Radiance; however, I will make little references to the series, such as repeating the name Queen Islanzadi. Also, in all my stories, Becky's Lexiconian name will always be Alexandria Theia just for the sake of consistency.

Songs:
Miss Power: Exodus by Evanescence

BTW, since disclaimers are utterly pointless, I won't even bother. You all know I don't own WordGirl, so that's good enough for me.

"I never dreamed of a perfect life, just a happy one. I hoped for simple things: a family, a job, to get married to Scoops, to be happy. There were so many dreams meant for a world without fear, hate, or regret, a world where joy is given a chance to thrive and flourish, not throttled by the cruelty of others. I dreamed that heroes would always win, and that there would always be a happy ending, just like a fairytale. Some part of me knew it wasn't true, but it was better, easier to believe. Despite its longevity, it never ceases to amaze me how easily that innocence shattered. I lived in that blissful state of dreaming for ten years, never fully able to see the world and all its hate, a hatred that will forever be a part of me. I suppose should have seen it coming. After all, dreams never live past the hideous truth of the rising sun. No one can sleep forever. Not even in death. Not even in Hell. Not even in my dreams. Dreams will always die.

"This is how I woke up."

~ Becky

Miss Power gazed with pride upon the statue of herself and Captain Gigglecheeks. It was a perfect tribute to the new reign that would besiege this primitive planet. This city would be only the first to fall under her invincible power. Once she gained total control of Planet Earth, the entire Andromenia Universe would be united under her, and peace – yes, peace – would dominate. That's what people didn't understand about civilization. The reason wars and intolerance spread like a plague was because the planets were divided amongst themselves, unable to agree. Power ran too thin without a proper leader, so thin that it had all but vanished. People were foolish, uneducated, and stupid, and yet they were given the ability to control their own destiny! Ridiculous! If one person had all the power, total control over free will, there would be no dissent, no break in unity. Everyone would become one and the same, so they wouldn't be able to fight one another, for to do so would be like driving a stake into one's own heart. Everyone would be exactly the same. After all, that was what peace was, right? Peace was good.

But vengeance was so much sweeter.

Then, like lightning blazing down from the heavens in a fiery wrath, a pair of lasers disintegrated Captain Gigglecheek's face as well as her own disfigured countenance. In rage, Miss Power turned to behold the impossible: all those pitiful, useless villains charging toward her, lead by that unbearable District Attorney. Honesty, did they truly believe they stood a chance against her? An inconceivable, naïve hope to be sure. Still, she knew the effects desperation and anger could have on a person. Unbidden, a painful memory took center stage in Miss Power's mind, erasing reality:

"Cassandra?" questioned Queen Islanzadi of Planet Lexicon.

The sullen teenage princess reluctantly got up from yet another one of her dangerous experiments, a favorite pastime of hers. A red rust sulfur filled the air, making the queen feel slightly nauseous. Of course, her parents disapproved of her creations, especially when they involved Lexonite. Lexonite was a highly dangerous mineral, fatal to Lexiconians, and yet Princess Cassandra had managed to use the toxic mineral in power-stimulants.

"What, Mom?" she snapped, already expecting one of her three-hour complaints on not fulfilling her duty, ignoring the principals of honor, peace, integrity, blah, blah, blah.

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady," the queen scolded, her luminous amethyst eyes and blazing red hair making her look like a goddess on fire. That was another thing: her mother's expectations. Whether it was virtues, knowledge, beauty, Queen Islanzadi was always perfect. How could she, her daughter, possibly live up to such impossible, self-righteous standards? And now, just when Cassandra had found something her mother couldn't do, something to separate her from that awful shadow, what did Islanzadi do? There was no praise, no amazement, not even a hug. No, Cassandra had been a 'bad girl', had done something wrong by discovering her true talent, and was forbidden from doing it again. So what if it was dangerous? She was happy, so why did her mother have to change her? Why couldn't she accept her daughter for who she was?

"Your father and I have discussed this for quite some time," the queen began. "And while both of us are deeply troubled by this, we fear we have no choice. Your behavior is intolerable, and so I am forced to revoke your royal title as heiress to the throne of Lexicon. Your cousin, Alexandria Theia, will become my successor." Then, Cassandra's priceless diamond tiara, a symbol of her royalty, shattered under the power of Queen Islanzadi's disownment.

The world came crashing down upon Cassandra. She wasn't a princess anymore? Impossible! The title was hers by birthright, and no one could ever change that. And Alexandria was a mere two years old! How could that spoiled toddler brat cheat her out of her title? It was definition of mockery, and Cassandra wouldn't stand for it.

"Fine!" she screamed. "Disown me! I don't care! You never loved me anyway, so of course you would place that baby above me, your own daughter! What kind of a mother are you?"

To Cassandra's surprise, tears sparked in Queen Islanzadi's eyes. "Oh Cassandra, honey, I'm–"

"NO!" she shouted. "Don't you dare say, 'I'm sorry'! Sorry implies love, something you've never had for me! If you truly hate me so much, why don't you just kill me and get it over with?"

"Because I'm your mother," she said gently, her voice quivering with sorrow, but Cassandra couldn't hear it. The fragile, tentative connection tying her to her mother had shattered, leaving an empty, loveless void in its place.

"I have no mother," Cassandra declared vehemently. At the speed of a nuclear missile, the violate Lexiconian ex-princess stormed out of the palace that was no longer her home. Taking to the sky, she fumed for hours as she floated on a cloud, rage churning in her heart, obliterating all reason. Her pale yellow hair whipped wildly in the breeze, with Cassandra shivering violently, her flimsy sky blue, silk gown providing inadequate warmth. This was the image of a girl who had lost everything with no one to turn to, a girl without hope.

Although Cassandra would never admit it, she was scared. Her royalty was one of the major aspects that defined her, if not the biggest. Without it, it felt like an irreplaceable piece of her had been torn away, taking away her identity. She didn't know who she was without it. Now, she was nothing but a mere primitive commoner, good for nothing in the world. No one would ever notice her, for in all Cassandra's experience, people paid attention to those in control. People in power always received whatever they desired, be it money or glory or adoration. In her world, power was often the equivalent of love. She wanted, no, needed love, something she had never received enough of in regards to her mother. So, if love equaled power, and power was being the Princess of Lexicon, all she had to do was regain her royalty. The only question was how. She wasn't powerful to take it by force, and her mother didn't love her enough to restore her status out of free will, leaving Cassandra in the exact same position as before. It seemed her destiny was now to be a despised, unlovable creature, who would be crushed by higher powers until the day she died.

Just then, Cassandra heard a faint squeak from behind her, a sound she would recognize anywhere.

"Not now, Gigglecheeks," she said in a tone of depression, teetering on the verge of tears, addressing her monkey pet from the bizarre jungles of the moon, Dras-Animi. The peculiar creature wrapped its extendable arms around its owner in a display of comfort. Grateful for the support, Cassandra patted his head, allowing him to take up a seat on her opposite side.

"I just don't know what to do," she cried to her confidant, the last vestiges of her anger fading into sorrow. "I want to become a princess again, but how do I become powerful enough to defeat my mother?"

Expecting a sympathetic condolence, she was quite surprised when Gigglecheeks extracted a vial of toxic acid green liquid as a means of response to her rhetorical question. At once, Cassandra's face lit up with hope. Of course! How had she not realized it before? She had been working on chemical component to dramatically enhance her superpowers! Sure, it was only a prototype and came with unknown side effects, but Cassandra was too upset to care. Hastily, she gulped down the entire mixture, grimacing as she felt the poisonous Lexonite sear down her throat like liquid fire. It hurt, but she was so emotionally torn apart that she didn't notice. At once, she felt the effects of her apparently successful experiment. An uncontrollable electric charge rushed through her nervous system, heightening her senses and making her brain's processing lightning quick. Pure, undiluted energy rushed through every pore of her skin, giving her unbelievable strength and speed, even by Lexiconian standards.

Once the transformation was complete and the pain dulled, Cassandra felt simply wonderful, her face glowing with a profound happiness she hadn't experienced in well… ever! It felt as though there was nothing holding her back, she didn't have to hide who she was anymore, she was finally free.

Gigglecheeks was quite pleased with his owner's sudden euphoria. He clapped appreciatively, but in his haste, he sent the vial, still containing a small portion of the concoction, flying through the air at Cassandra. The potion leaped from the bottle, glinting dangerously in the sunlight, spattering itself on the left side of her face.

An agonizing burning sensation flashed on her skin, drowning Cassandra in absolute pain. She clutched her inflamed face, tormented to the point where she was practically pleading for death. The pain was so potent, so absolute, that Cassandra forgot her own name, so lost in torment that she no longer knew what life was worth living for. Countless gruesome murders, tortures, and wars blurred through her mind, painting her eyes a permanent red, red as the ocean of blood she drowned in. There was so much violence, so much hate, all Cassandra wanted was an end to it all, to achieve an everlasting peace for all people. She screamed and screamed, trapped inside her own head, insane with witnessing firsthand all the violence in all planets. Cassandra despised it, and yet some horrendous monstrosity inside her relished it and desired more. That monster grew larger and larger until it twisted her heart, with the former Cassandra hurtling into an endless abyss of darkness, never to see the sun again.

"Cassandra!" squeaked Gigglecheeks in terror for her well-being. Groggily shaking her head free of those terrifying images, Cassandra opened her eyes. Instead of giving his mistress an embrace of relief, the alien monkey had his eyes bulging in fear, overflowing with tears of pity.

"Gigglecheeks…?" questioned the Lexiconian 16-year-old, taken aback by his unusual behavior. He simply shook his head in silence, pointing to one of Lexicon's towering glass structures.

Cassandra gasped at her reflection. Her once beautiful face was now horrendously disfigured, a nasty green visage covering the exact place where the poison had made contact with her skin. She now sported an ugly yellow snake's eye, bulging in her socket and horribly contrasting with her sparkling, normal blue eye on the right.

Amazingly, the disfiguration didn't trouble her. It didn't matter what she looked like as long as she had the power to defeat her mother.

"Come on, Gigglecheeks," commanded Cassandra, making a beeline to her former home.

"What do you intend to do?" asked Gigglecheeks fearfully. Cassandra didn't answer; instead, she stood determinedly in the shadow of Lexicon's palace, adorned with pristine marble columns and glittering topaz gemstones. Formulating a devious plan, she super speeded inside and returned a millisecond later, waving a box of matches triumphantly. Fire was constant across every planet, as was air, earth, and water, the basic elements that formulated the universe. The monkey pet watched in shock as he witnessed Cassandra lighting a match and tossing it into the nearby flower bush, setting it ablaze. The fire illuminated her crazed, maniacal expression of glee as she watched the blaze spread, encompassing the entire palace, already smoldering the outer walls.

"Goodbye, Mother," Cassandra whispered malevolently, turning her back on her family, unaware that one person would survive.

Snapping out of the memory, Miss Power rocketed at the impeding criminals, that decade old hatred still churning fresh in her heart.

They would all burn.

So that's Miss Power's origin story. Good? Bad? Strange? Next chapter will feature Becky and the beginning of her plunge into wickedness.

You're all probably harboring at least some resentment to me for discontinuing Radiance, but I hope you review anyway. Lightball? Happydreamer? TLBB? Anyone? *does puppydog eyes*

Love to all,

Bella