Empowered: Violence Pornography

Welcome back. I have finally chased down Miss Powers and made her see reason of a sort...

"Stop writing this story! You're probably a virgin and..."

MISS POWERS. Please.

"Eek."

This is not a lemon. They're not allowed on here any more anyway. Trust me, if I feel the need for sex, it will be mercifully brief and to the point. But it's not a lemon.

"...then you're going to slash me with Ninjette! Or no, Sista Spooky again, why does..."

It's not a slash fic either!

"...there's some other kind of fanfiction?"

Astonishingly, yes. I do wish my text could get across how thick the sarcasm in my voice is. It's quite thick, believe you me.

"Wait, what's the title of this story?"

Oh dear...

"WH-WH-WHAT? Oh no, it's even WORSE then that! You're one of those sickos who seizes on an aspect of something and takes it way too far! Keep away from me! I know what Agony In Pink is! It's not..."

Miss Powers, the title is not literal. Well, maybe the violence part...ahem. It is not actually violent pornography. It is a metaphor. For STORYTELLING purposes. Which I think I can fairly say speaks more then your creator's...habits, if you know what I mean.

"I don't trust you!"

That's fair enough. Tell me Miss Powers, didn't you say you want to kick some butt? I mean, you've done a little of it...but I suspect some more would be appreciated. Mr. Warren has to stay within certain parameters of his creative work lest he go off topic, but how much of that I have to do is wholly up to me. I can give you that.

"...you're planning something."

You might say that. Just trust me for now. In the interest of difference, I'll even see if you can avoid being tied up. Perhaps some people might say "what's the point" to that, but I simply reply that Mr. Warren does plenty of it. Besides, it doesn't really work in text...

"No showing private things with me and Thugboy!"

Yes yes yes...I swear, being DRAWN in various intimate states, no problem, but consider putting them down in text form...and where did the spine come from? Did I catch her on a good day? Or is it just being in fanfiction? Or is it incorrect characterization? Wait, that last one...ow. Too meta. My head hurts. Moving on. Though honestly I'd be more concerned with the fact I'm writing this without having read the first book as the library lacked it.

"Wait you wha

Part 1: The Black Parade

The city of Townsvi-wait wait, that's not it. Dammit I don't know the city name. I don't know if it was even given. Fine. I dub thee "Barbaria."

The city of Barbaria.

Four days ago, everything changed.

("What changed?"

Argh, haven't you ever heard of "In Medias Res"? Don't interrupt my narrative please, it's jarring.)

"For 76 News, this is Marsha O'Brian-Wong-Rodriguez." The generic anchorwoman said as she slightly shuffled the papers before her. "To repeat our top story, trouble continues in the city of Barbaria due to the efforts of the villain known as Rip-Off. Reports have not yet clarified the exact nature of the villain's abilities, but said villain has repeatedly shown to cause unwilling actions in both humans and superhumans in the form of making them act out various scenes from famous books, movies, and other fictional sources. Reports have also stated that people have begun doing this long after Rip-Off has left the scene, or in areas the villain has not been reported spotted. Whether this means the villain's ability is somehow viral in nature, among other theories, there have been many incidents of it over the past ten days. In related news, Barbaria has seen a massive influx of copyright lawyers who are attempting to sue the re-enactors of said known fictional scenes. Reports indicate that many of them seem to lack a sense of humour."

The anchorwoman paused briefly, her eyes flicking to something offscreen for half a second before returning her professional gaze to the camera.

"People affected by this sudden state are recommended to attempt to try and make up new words or lyrics for whatever they are acting out. While turning the Cat In The Hat into a discussion on Russian pograms may seem very strange, it will also protect you from litigation from the Geisel estate. For those uncreative, staying inside and out of earshot is recommended instead." The anchorwoman said. "In related news, there has been a massive crime wave as a result of Rip-Off's actions and abilities as many villains have been given improper information and believe the city of Barbaria is full of defense lawyers..."

"Because! When the sun shines we'll shine together! Told you I'll be here forever!" A female intern sang as she staggered into camera view, looking like she was in a trance as the newswoman suddenly looked very alarmed. "Said I'll always be your friend..."

"Someone shut her up!"

"Turn the camera off...!"

"Took an oath, gonna stick it out-"

BLIP.

"I hate crime waves." Thugboy commented, as he put the remote down.

"YOU HEBETUDINOUS HYPOCRITE! HAS YOUR MINISCULE BRAIN FORGOTTEN THE MANY UNSCRUPULOUS DEEDS OF YOUR PAST EMPLOYMENT!?" The Caged Demonwolf thundered (it never did anything quietly), as Thugboy glanced at the belt, ever present on the coffee table. "WOULD A DELUGE OF LARCENY NOT ALLOW YOU TO PERFORM THE ORAL ACTS OF THE BANDIT, YOU PAST-TENSE PUGNACIOUS PHARISEE!?"

"Not really. My employers would have us running around all the time, trying to beat his competitors to the available goods, we kept tripping over other minions, we'd get in FIGHTS with other minions, capes would stumble over us looking for other villains...it was just a giant XXXXing pain." Thugboy said. "And now that I'm out, whenever they have one of these stupid spikes the news keeps cutting into the good stuff on TV."

"FOR ONCE OUR MINDSETS MEET MUTUALLY, YOU JACKANAPE! BUT IN YOUR PREMATURE DEACTIVATION OF THE SET OF TELEVISION, YOU PREVENT CONFIRMATION THAT THIS COURSE OF ACTION WILL PROVE INVETERATE! ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A CRUSHER OF WORLDS TO KNOW THIS WILL NOT PROVE SEMPITERAL! REACTIVATE THE MECHANICAL CONVEYOR OF TIME-PASSING FORTHWITH!"

Thugboy did so, more to shut the belt up then anything.

"The price of wheat rose again today..."

"MY CEREBRATION PROVES VERTIGINOUS! RESUME THE DEVICE'S QUIESCENT STATE!"

But of course, nothing could ever really shut the belt up. Thugboy turned the TV off again and sighed, leaning his head back and glancing over his sunglasses at the ceiling. As if normal days for his girl weren't bad enough, a crime wave had to be even worse. Thugboy suspected he'd be called on for encouragement that night, like he had many times before. If he wasn't called outright to pick Emp up, like that one bad time...well, actually it had been a very GOOD time, but Thugboy did try every now and then to separate his sexual satisfaction from his concern over his lady love's etenally stomped self-worth...

"Just l-lie to me...lie to me!"

Yeah. Crime wave wasn't good for anything.

Hi! My name is Empowered! Yeah, it's not the best name, but I've heard worse. Well I've read worse. Theoretical worse. Er...yeah.

I would call myself a superhero...except I'm really not. It's my suit, you see. For whatever reason, it has the ability to give me powers, but it's so unbelievably fragile that it tears at the slightest touch. And I do mean SLIGHTEST touch. And once it does, my powers go poof. Then the villains tend to take me hostage. And tie me up. And stick gags in my mouth. And laugh at me.

...a lot of times, I really don't like my life.

My "team" doesn't help much. Most of them think I'm a joke. Even the nice ones tend to give me this sidelong look, you know, the one where you feel you need to say something mean in order to help someone, like they think I'd be better off not doing this. And don't even get me started on Sistah Spooky. Forget a bug, someone has jammed a whole HIVE up her butt. If she up and vanished, the XXXX I get would probably drop fifty percent. At least.

Why do I put up with it? Well...I really don't know. But I just don't feel like I can give it up. Even at my lowest...

...or maybe I just haven't hit a proper low yet.

...a low so deep even Thugboy and Ninjette (who are the love of my life and my true BFF, by the way) can't talk me out of it?

I really don't like this line of thought. Maybe I better focus on the "job" at hand...

Yeah, right. The "job".

There's a crime wave these past few days in Barbaria. Some villain called Rip-Off triggered it, with some weird spreading copycat enacting power residual...thing: no one's figured out the details yet. It makes people uncontrollably act out copyrighted material. It's weird, and annoying, because we have to try and make up new stuff to avoid getting in legal trouble.

You haven't felt physical and mental exhaustion until you've had to make up a whole new set of lyrics to Thriller while doing the dance routine.

At least no one notices if they're bad lyrics.

In any case, this very strange power snowballed into a massive crime spree.

On one level, crime sprees aren't as bad as they could be, because the SMART villains see them for the risk/reward imbalances they are and lay low. On the other hand, all the lesser villains, and the wannabes, and the dearly wannabes, come pouring out of the woodwork. The end result: lots of little crimes all over the place.

Apparently for all their breaking of it, criminals don't know law very well. There are different kinds of defense lawyers. And them not knowing that has us all on our toes.

Correction: on MY toes. Because I'm just standing here on top of a building. I'm looking for telltale signs of criminal acts: alarms, cars breaking traffic laws, and so on. I see or hear anything, I call in a teammate. If no one's in the area, well, I got the impression Rivet said I should handle it, but from the cock of his head, I also got the impression he might find it better if I didn't. Or rather, since the fund they have set aside for my ransoms isn't bottomless, cheaper.

Then Spooky took her usual cheap shots. And it made me feel cheap.

In other words, a typical Thursday.

Some people ask why I put up with it. Well, it's not like I want to.

But...

As overplayed as My Chemical Romance and their most famous album is, I really can relate to some of those lyrics...

"Halt! Cease and desist this use of copyrighted material!" A suit-wearing lawyer yelled as he shoved a piece of paper in the superheroine's face: Empowered was so freaked out she nearly fell off the building.

"Hey! Back off! You can't sue me for THINKING lyrics!"

"Not yet anyway! Litigator AWAY!" The lawyer yelled as he jumped off the roof.

"...even for my life, that was pretty odd." Empowered commented.

Yeah, they're overexposed, but...

"When I was...a young boy, my father...took me into the city...to see a marching band...He said, "Son when you grow up, would you be, the saviour...of the broken, the beaten and the damned?"

He said "Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non believers, the plans that they have made?"

Because one day...

I'll leave you...

A phantom to lead you in the summer...To join the black parade."

...ugh, watch it girlfriend. You keep this up, you're gonna have to change your nickname to Emo.

But I still relate...

And then a familiar sound reached Empowered ear's: the sounds of a bank alarm.

"All right...if it's coming from that way, then they probably hit up Greenwood. Which means they either drive north into the Tangles and try and lose any police...or they come down Litch here for the speedy route out of town..." Empowered said, as she watched the street. At least she could do THAT well, thanks to the vision-magnifying aspect of her suit's powers (and on that note, she wondered how Project Slappy was coming along. Hopefully it wasn't).

And sure enough, she got to see the two vans shriek around the corner, as they started down Litch...

...she should just do it. After what happened, she should...

...but she'd been given a strict task to do. Okay, maybe that was too strong a term, but they'd asked her to follow a certain line of action. And if she fouled up as usual, no sense adding to the humiliation that she went against orders to do it, as she opened her communicator.

"Hey guys, uh, Empowered here, on the lookout across Litch, uh...looks like someone hit the bank nearby, er, is anyone around, they're heading..."

"I'm seconds away Emp!" Crackled Major Havoc's voice on the other end. "Just don't get in my way! Or get...dragged off...or...forget it I'm gonna handle it!"

Empowered sighed as she turned the device back off: figures. Well, at least it wasn't Spooky.

The vans were just about to pass her, but hey, she'd done her job, right?

...right?

The thoughts on her place barely kept Empowered from noticing the tickling sensation that suddenly passed over the back of her skull. Great.

"...things, smoothly go, if you just do...your job...onto my shoulders the lesser tasks fob..." Empowered softly sang to the faint music in her head. "Stay out of our way, don't do nothin', it's the same old dance...I can do more then this, if you'd just give me a cha-"

THUD! Major Havoc landed on the roof of the front van, and even as he did he hijacked the song.

"Stand back everyone, no more need to cry!

Just deadly driving danger and the middle of it, I!

Yes, Major Havoc's here, cape flappin' in the wind!

I'm so cool, I barely know where to begin...!"

A good place would have been a physics class, where the Major might have learned Newton's first law, about how an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion.

More to the point, that the Major, standing on the van without any effort to hold on, would NOT go with the van when it made it's sharp turn onto the side street to Empowered's immediate left. Instead, he'd keep going in the original direction of the van.

Short and sweet, he fell off and tumbled across the road.

"...ow." Empowered said. She knew very well the unpleasantness of a roadside bounce and grind...and that without the Major to stop them, the vans would be getting away.

Well, she'd done her part! She should...

...she should do something. And the first thing was to stop thinking like this. If this had happened four days, or even two days ago, she'd have let the vans go, or try to blast them with her testy force ray powers...or jump off the roof and try her own luck.

And shred her suit when she landed.

Or when the villains shot at her.

Or maybe just by making too abrupt a motion.

And then she'd get tied up and...

But this was now!

("What happened four days ago? What are you talking about?"

What did I say about interrupting the narrative flow?)

It didn't make her any less nervous, as Empowered flicked her tongue over her dry upper lip and then started running.

Maybe those workouts with Ninjette had merit after all, as she leapt to the next roof. Her suit was fully intact for the moment, so the jumps weren't too hard, but she didn't have traditional super speed, so she couldn't dawdle, as she leapt to the next roof...

And winced as she heard the shriek of brakes below as an unsuspecting car nearly collided with the vans. But the near-accident slowed the vans down for a few seconds, which gave Empowered the opening she needed.

Several seconds later, she landed on the street in front of the vans.

She didn't trip. She didn't fall. And...the suit at the bottom of her feet stayed intact. Normally, she'd have noticed that.

In this case, her eyes were focused on the van rushing at her. Well, here went nothing.

"Uh...stop?" Empowered said, as she held up a hand.

What happened surprised even her.

As the dark-blue energy surged up out of the road before her and slammed into the vehicle, stopping it dead in its tracks with a shriek of crunching, wrenching metal.

("W-WHAT? What the heck did I just do? I can't do that!"

Now you're just doing it on purpose.

"But..."

SHUSH.)

The sounds only multiplied when the second van, immediately behind that one, crashed into it in turn, as Empowered yelped and recoiled away from the noise.

"Oops." Empowered said, looking at the two wrecked vans in front of her, still surprised that she'd managed to do that. As far as she knew. But what were the odds that a blue energy car-stopper force just happened to pop up out of nowhere in a manner that had corresponded to her request?

Then was a popping noise, and then the side door of the front van was wrenched open, as a dazed and bleeding thug stumbled out, falling onto the concrete with a coughing grunt. Another followed him out, not looking much better. Dead stops plus no seatbelts never ended up with good results.

"Uh...sorry! Are you all right?" Empowered said, as she hesitantly took a few steps forward, still a bit shocked at what she'd done.

In said shock, she briefly forgot a problem about thugs. They weren't all made alike. And while there may have been a trend of professionalism in being a evildoer's minions, professionalism tended to be among the lesser things on one's mind after one had just gotten into a bone-rattling car crash.

Which might have explained why instead of trying to swap insurance info, the thugs all pulled out guns.

"Uh...ah...jam?" Empowered tried.

The blue-black energy surged up before her...and fired off tendrils through the window of a nearby store, and as its alarms went off it returned, offering Empowered several glass jars it had plucked off the shelves. Jam.

"...oops." Empowered said.

And the thugs fired. Empowered threw up her arms as the bullets slammed into her, as her suit, the damnable suit, did what it always did and shredded like spider webs, the suit's only advantage being that it at least deflected the bullets enough to prevent injury, at least that time. After a barrage of bullets, the suit once again hung off her in tatters.

"...nice work, Mayor Hundred." Empowered said, wincing as she was once again deprived of her powers and her dignity.

"Hey, I was right! It IS Superhostage!" One of the thugs said.

"Well grab her man! We'll get some extra cash!" The second replied. Empowered's eyes went wide. Not AGAIN...

The thugs approached...as Empowered realized the energy was still there. Still holding the jam.

"...ack! STOP THEM!"

And this time the energy did what it was commanded, as it twisted and lanced at the thugs, who had been strangely focused on Empowered and her now rather-badly covered form.

The energy gave them the jam. Violently. There was a quick series of cracking noises as the jam jars were bashed against the thug's heads. They went down with confused groans, wondering what the heck had just happened.

"...uh...huh." Empowered said. She still felt a sense of surrealness, as if she was dreaming this whole thing. It sure seemed like a dream. After so much crap had been thrown her way, suddenly...after four days ago...

"Oh MAN!" Came the voice, as another figure suddenly popped up behind the fallen thugs, having pulled himself from the second van. He looked down at his fallen minions, three large sacks stuffed with money clutched in his hands, before he looked up at Empowered. He wore a dark brown suit, artificial claws on his hands...and his face and head were covered with an elongated cybernetic helmet that trailed a foot long appendage down from his face.

"Do you have any idea how heavy these things are? Now I have to carry them MYSELF! You interfering bitch! You're going to learn the folly of getting in the way of THE ANTEATER!" The villain thundered. Well, tried to thunder. Unlike the Caged Demonwolf, there was a clear undertone of whining to the anger, and hence the declaration was rather undermined, as the Anteater dumped the money sacks down and stepped over his minions to face Empowered.

"...the Anteater?" Empowered said. "...wow, yikes, they really must be running low on the animals."

"Shut up! I know who YOU are! You call yourself Empowered? HAH! At least I look the part! You look like you just stepped out of a C-Rated strip club!" The Anteater yelled. "Now TAKE THIS!"

And the Anteater lashed his head out, as a metallic tongue snapped out and lashed, and Empowered yelped again as she jumped back, just barely avoiding the whipping appendage.

Even as the Anteater's insults sunk in. It was far from the first time she'd been insulted...

And yet she felt it bloom in her. Anger. This was her reputation. To even ridiculous gimmicks like this. She existed so everyone else could look down their nose at her...

Operative word being COULD.

It was time to change some opinions.

"Right back at you! STOP HIM!" Empowered yelled, pointing.

And the energy surged up and pistoned itself out, slamming three powerful bludgeons into the form of the Anteater.

Who...barely budged.

"Hah! Foolish girl! Your powers are no match against the strength of an anteater!"

"...that doesn't make any sense! Anteater aren't known for being strong!"

"My costume maker didn't know that either! SO I LIED!" The Anteater replied triumphantly, as he drew his head back and send his cybernetic tongue lancing out again.

This time, Empowered didn't react so quickly.

The tongue snuck around her defenses, whipping around her ankle and then surging up her leg. Before Empowered realized it, it had wrapped itself around her knees and yanked them together, even as the point continued whipping around her, curling around her wrist and then coiling around her arm. Empowered felt the cold, smooth length of the tendril against her bare skin...

Why? Why did this ALWAYS happen? Even with this new development, she was being tied up again, as the Anteater pulled her off the ground with a laugh, the metallic tongue coiling more fiercly around her.

...he was...feeling over...ALL OVER...WITH A XXXXING TONGUE...!

"AUGGGGHH! NO, NO, NO!! GET OFF!"

And the ground exploded in front of Empowered, as the energy struck, slicing out of the ground as a myriad of blades. They severed the supertech appendage of the Anteater like it was as fragile as Empowered's suit...as the energy blades ripped out of the ground beyond that, exploding towards the Anteater in a line, as the would-be supervillain suddenly found a row of stabbing death ripping towards the street at him.

"AIYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

GORSH!

Empowered fell to the ground, frantically pulling the now limp metal tongue off of her and throwing it away. Ugh! She was going to shower until the water supply ran cold...!

...wait, what had she just done?

Empowered blinked, looking at the shattered concrete in front of her, following it with her eyes...until she saw the end result, and she put her hand to her mouth in shock.

The Anteater stood there, the energy have lanced blades from the ground at every angle in front and around him.

...but he wasn't an impaled bloodsoaked corpse. No. The blades had interlocked around him in a precise pattern...leaving the terrified cape frantically trying to keep his balance and not move, as there were sharp points lightly pressing against many delicate parts of his anatomy. The slightest motion, and one of them would push in. Somewhere.

Empowered blinked, her immediate assessment that she'd killed the man turning to confusion. How had she done that? She'd just lashed out blindly...

"...help...please..." The Anteater whimpered. "My right leg is cramping up...the tongue is artificial, it's just a basic seizing weapon, I couldn't feel anything, I didn't violate the rules, please help me Oh gawd pleasssssseeeeeeeee..."

And then the villain finally passed out from the fear.

And even as he did the blades retracted, dumping the passed out villain safely on the ground.

Empowered stared at what had happened...at what she'd done.

...she'd done it.

She'd stopped the bank robbers. With her suit wrecked!

"...whoo hoo!" Empowered said, as she walked over to the money bags, picking them up off the ground and walking away with them, carrying them away from the accident/battle scene. She'd keep an eye on them until the police or her fellows arrived. She'd won! She saved the day...in a very small sense! But she'd actually done it! She...

Heard what sounded like a very loud car engine. Blinking, she turned towards the noise.

The black supercar slammed into her, her suit ripping apart even more as Empowered found herself thrown into the air with a scream, as she flew up from the impact and then came crashing back down, the tumbling roll ripping apart the remains of her suit even worse: now she was pretty sure she was exposed, in some way.

As the money bags plopped into the open convertible, as it slammed on the brakes and spun, tires scouring black marks across the road as the wild-haired and eyed woman, dressed in red leathers, whooped and pulled out some sort of stamp.

"Another notch on the belt!" The woman whooped, as she slapped the stamp against her door, a female figure with an X through it imprinted onto it. "Tell your friends roadkill! Look out for Bitch'n Heat!"

Empowered was too dazed to really understand what was going on, as the "automaniac" Bitch'n Heat spun her wheels (the Bitch'n Wheels, her custom supercar, good for running away or running people over) and then roared off, having seen her opportunity and seized it.

"Didja anywun getta numba for dat tank?" Empowered mumbled, and then passed out.

"...pay to get her fatass back." Was the first thing Empowered heard as she woke up. She groaned and pushed herself off the ground, her right leg aching from the impact that the villain-out-of-nowhere Bitch'n Heat had inflicted on it. Well, better pain then death. As weak as her supersuit often was, it did seem to protect her against fatal injuries.

"Emp? You alive?" Came the familiar deep rumble of Capitan Rivet, as Empowered looked at his robotic form. Ever concerned about her. Sometimes Empowered found it touchy, and sometimes she hated it: Rivet never had to be concerned about any of his other teammates. Only her. The load.

"...yeah...ow." Empowered said, as she felt some of her joints crack. She was gonna feel that in the morning. She knew very well the effects of having a car slammed into you at high speed.

"What happened?"

"Uh...well...um..." Empowered said as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"I got this Emp."

And Major Havoc pushed past her.

"Well I went after these PIECES OF SCUM here as Empowered said, thank you for the call missy, and I was kicking their butts, but then Empowered decided she just HAD to help..."

Empowered stared, in utter disbelief. Major Havoc was taking the credit. Oh, this wasn't the first time, but he'd never been so BLATENT about it. And even as she watched, the would-be golden boy lied through his teeth about what had happened, waving off the lack of money as "someone running off with it when Emp distracted me".

And of course, Rivet believed it. Why wouldn't he?

don't stand for this...

What?

make him scream...

"Emp? Anything to add?" Rivet was saying, as Empowered blinked back to reality. What had that been?

"Why bother El Capitan? She screwed everything up." Came a familiar female voice. A voice Empowered had grown to loathe, as Sista Spooky popped up from behind Rivet's giant form, her dark cloaks swirling around her. "Let's get moving, someone gave us a lead on the Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker. Don't want them running around."

"Hmmmm, no." Rivet said, as Empowered stared incredulously at the three of them, as Major Havoc grinned and winked at her, giving her a thumbs up. Like she'd done him a favor. "Errr, Emp...your suit's wrecked. You may as well head home. Thanks anyway..."

"...uh...uh." Was all Empowered could say. Her throat felt locked up, her voice paralyzed. Was she just going to let them...

Spooky gave Empowered a withering glare. Dumb cow. Really, how many more times did she have to petition Rivet to get rid of her? Goddamn blonde...

And as Empowered took in the glare, she realized that yes, she was going to be walked over again. It seemed like even when she could do something, it didn't matter. If life didn't screw her over, she did it herself.

Feeling her face burning red and the beginning of tears stinging her eyes, she turned away. Fine. She'd leave them and...

"Whoo! Full moon! Heavenly body!" Came Major Havoc's voice, and Empowered realized that on top of that, her suit was shredded in such a way that her rear end was completely visible. Feeling like her cheeks were about to ignite, she covered herself and ran off.

"If that's heaven, I'd hate to see hell." Spooky commented.

"Enough you two. We have work to do. Save your energy for the deserving." Rivet ordered.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." Sista Spooky replied, as she turned to leave. She favored Empowered, now hiding behind a car, with one last glare, the miserable looking "superheroine" barely able to meet her eyes.

As Spooky felt like someone took a ten ton chisel, placed it behind her eyes, and dropped a moon on it.

"UGH!" Spooky said, stumbling a bit and grabbing her head.

"Spooky? Problem?" Rivet asked, as Spooky shook her head. What had THAT been? It had been mystical...and INSANELY intense.

But there was nothing in its wake. No indication where it had come from.

"Sista? You alright?" Major Havoc asked.

"...sorry. Some...twinge of something. Nothing important." Spooky commented, as the last of the feelings faded. Must have been a twist in the extradimensional fields. She got those every now and then, since getting her powers. Just in case, she scanned the area. Nothing came up.

Good thing. She sure wouldn't want to meet whatever could toss out a pulse like that. The last time she'd felt a directed force behind something like that, it had been the Caged Demonwolf.

But something like that could never hide from her. Oh no. She was a sorceress supreme to the core.

And so Spooky left, dismissing what she'd felt.

No one was much surprised.

Empowered didn't go home. She didn't want to. Not with her giant, hideous rear end hanging out of her pants. Not with everyone gawking at her indecent state, other women looking at her like she was a disgrace to her sex, and men looking on her like she was a fine cut of meat for them to hold down and devour.

Instead she found a tall building, and an empty elevator. And hours later, with night fallen on the city, she sat there and wondered why.

Did it even matter, these strange new abilities? Would things just keep playing out the same fashion, until she finally just gave up? Would she ever get the respect she knew she'd earned a time or two, and definitely now?

...would she ever stop wondering how disgusted he must be with her?

"...when you grow up, would you be, the saviour...of the broken...the beaten...and the..." Empowered whispered to herself before she choked back a sob. "...why can't I...just have a cape..."

A whispering noise sounded in Empowered's ears.

"...whu?" Empowered said, briefly forgetting her sorrow. She could have sworn...

As blueish material settled down around her.

"AH!" Empowered yelped, jumping up and whirling around.

There was no one there...as the material swirled around her. She jerked again in surprise, looking at her shoulders.

Twin points floated there, just above her shoulders...from which a body-length cape emerged, settling behind her. The nature of Empowered's supersuit not only made it rip and lose effect at the slightest touch, but also caused it to stop working if she wore anything over it.

But this cloak wasn't touching it. It came not from her shoulders, but above them. And the material didn't touch her back either, instead kept a few inches away by the angle of the descent.

...she had a cape.

...she'd always wanted a cape.

And now...out of nowhere, she had a cape.

...just like she'd stopped a crime.

And as she felt it flapping around her...Empowered found herself looking at her hands.

"...come." She said.

Fortunately, this time the power didn't take her so literally, as misty bluish-black energy emerged from the palms of her hands. She watched it dance.

"...you did this...are you a part of it? Something new?" Empowered said. "...you make things literal...can you make me literal?"

The energy had no answer.

But Empowered, as she truly realized that she could leave her old life, with so many parts she hated...and the sheer joy that idea brought her, had no more questions.

...no one was much surprised.

"...what's going on? What are you doing?"

Well, you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you young lady?

"I still don't trust you! You lied! You said you wouldn't tie me up, and then that Anteater..."

I didn't tie you up. I temporarily restrained you. There is a difference.

"And what's with the random "XXXX" and "XXXXing" word things?"

Unlike your comic, I can't use a black smear to censor cursing. Look, if you're going to hang around and critique my work, here, read these notes.

"Uh...okay, um...'What ARE these strange new powers? What happened four days ago? What's Empowered going to do next? Has the writer somehow never heard of something called a symbiote?"

Hey! That last one wasn't on there! No editorials!

"No editorials if you lay off the Chemical Romance."

That was just for this chapter!

"And stop ripping off Joss Whedon's work."

NEIN!