Chapter 8

Marsha has just left the private school she attends, wearing a black jacket and white blouse with a red plaid skirt, long black socks just below her knees and black heeled shoes with laces. She gets into the back of the limo and begins her ride home. She tried to stay focused in school today, but couldn't stop thinking about Ethan. Marsha now silently makes up her mind as she decides what she is going to do when she gets home.

Marsha has taken off her uniform after going to her room. She has stripped down nude as she looks at a small syringe gun on her dresser with a blue glow inside of it. She stares at it as she stands there, recalling a vague message given to her by Darla last night. Darla had found out where Ethan was, but Parasite (as Darla dubbed him) is too dangerous for a normal person to approach. Marsha was told that the formula in the syringe gun will change her; however, her clothes will be destroyed during the change, hence why Marsha is naked. Marsha went to school today to live her life normally as if nothing was wrong, but Darla could sense that she really wanted to help. Marsha now clears her mind as she picks up the syringe gun and injects herself with it at the base of her neck. Just then, blue bolts spill out of her body as it seems that her atoms are being smashed...

Rudy lands in front of the deserted storage closet where he has kept Ethan trapped. He unlocks the door and steps inside, smiling at his prey. "Hello, dinner! Comfy?" Ethan looks up at him. "Where did you go this time?" Rudy responds in a satisfied voice. "You know, for the past few years, I've made deals with the Mexican drug cartels and because of their firepower, I never moved against them." Ethan becomes slightly upset. "You killed them, didn't you?" Rudy drops his smile and goes to one knee, then slowly grabs Ethan's chin. "Yes, I did, but don't get upset; they got what was coming to them. The problem with the law is that there are too many protocols to follow. Scumbags like the drug cartels in Mexico get away with murder all the time while we here in the good old US of A are more concerned about which movie will top the box office." Ethan pulls his chin away. "How dare you talk about morals, when you have robbed banks and attacking the very people you've sworn to protect. What kind of law enforcer are you?" Rudy becomes upset.

"One who has grown tired of being underpaid by the so-called public. Law enforcers are severely underpaid and yet we risk our lives to fight killers, rapists and thieves on a regular basis. I'm just taking back what I've earned, that's all!" Suddenly, the inside of the storage closet begins to rumble. Rudy slowly rises to his feet as he can feel the increasing vibrations. "Is it an earthquake," asked a puzzled Rudy but then draws a conclusion. "No, it's something else." The shaking stops and Rudy looks down at Ethan, briefly pointing at him. "Don't go anywhere." Rudy walks outside into the California desert, looking around to see nothing for miles. Rudy then hears something approaching at high-speed. "Rudy Jones," said Darla from behind. Rudy turns around and gives a light smirk. "So, I take it you're here for your husband. Well too bad; he's my meal ticket." Darla steps forward a bit. "He doesn't belong to you. Release him." Rudy drops his smirk and replaces it with disappointment.

"You must be incredibly stupid to come and face me by yourself." Darla widens her eyes a little.

"Who said I'm alone?" Rudy looks confused until he is hit by a pillar of red sunlight from above. The pillar of sunlight pins him down for 20 seconds before vanishing. Rudy stands back up and can feel that his solar power is gone. He looks forward and sees that Darla is gone. He charges into the storage closet and sees that Ethan is now gone as well. Rudy shouts in fury over the loss of his new power meal.

Darla had taken Nameless back to the fortress, placing him inside of a blue sun chamber to speed up the regeneration process. After exposing him to large amounts of blue sunlight, he begins to recover in seconds. She turns off the blue sunlight, allowing him to step out. Darla then takes his hand. "Are you okay?" Nameless smiles. "I am now. With Rudy draining me, I was starting to go hungry. So you used your projector to find me?" Darla and Nameless step away from the chamber, walking into the generator room. To their left is a giant white orb of light with clamps under it. Nameless steps over to it and reaches into the orb, then pulls out miniature blue suns and swallows them. Nameless then pats his stomach.

"That will increase my powers for a while." Darla steps in front of him worried. "What can we do about Warden Jones? The moment he sees us, he'll drain our energy!"

"That's why I swallowed those blue suns just now. Rudy can only drain so much energy before his body can't take anymore. My body is now overcharged with blue sunlight, giving me energy to spare." Darla then grabs his arm with both hands. "Nameless, you don't have to face him again. I called help." Nameless looks concerned. "Who did you call?"

Rudy finds himself in a nearby abandoned western town with a bell in the center. He walks around furious because Darla stole his new source of power. The Nameless Superman had the power of a god and that power was all his. Now he'll do anything to get it back. It also doesn't help that his flight and super speed were taken away, leaving him stranded. Rudy looks around the old western town. "Where are you?" Rudy then hears a chuckle in the distance. He blows hot air out of his nose, wanting to hurry up and find Superman so that he can drain him again. The chuckle is much closer now and he looks to his right, seeing a glowing blue entity with no hair. The being seems to be four feet tall and has the appearance of a young girl, only the girl is naked.

"Who are you," asked an enraged Rudy. The girl responds enthusiastically. "Ah, I'm not going to make it that easy for you, Rudolph the Green Nosed Reindeer!" Rudy steps closer and seems to recognize the blue girl's voice. "Marsha Kent. So, Ethan got you involved." Marsha steps closer, speaking boldly. "He and Darla didn't make me do anything. I chose to help him." Rudy chuckles. "Do you even know his real name or where he's from? Did you even think about why he adopted some random girl in the first place?"

"Ethan cared about me and that's what matters! What about you, Rudy?! You only care about yourself!"

"A man's got to look out for himself in this world, or else it will eat him alive, and speaking of eating..." Rudy's eyes glow white again, draining Marsha of her energy. Rudy begins to smile as he can feel a sudden rush. Marsha seems to suffer no ill effects for some reason. "Yes, I feel even stronger than before! What are you made of, Kent?" Marsha responds coldly. "Right now, I'm made of pure energy." Rudy makes a greedy smile. "WELL, I WANT MORE!" Rudy drains Marsha again, but she is still not flinching. Rudy's muscles have bulked up a little from the extra energy he took. "I feel like a god, and I doubt you are strong enough to stop me!" Rudy leaps from the ground, but Marsha warps in front of him. "Wanna bet?" Rudy throws a punch, but it has no effect on Marsha. Marsha then smacks him to the ground via telekinesis. Marsha floats right beside him on the ground.

"What's the matter, Rudy? Too weak to beat a girl," asked a cocky Marsha. "I'll show you weak!" Rudy pushes himself up and starts to drain Marsha again, only this time he doesn't stop. He continues his drain until his muscles have completely torn through his clothes and he grows in size to roughly eight feet tall. "YES, I FEEL EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN BEFORE!" Marsha scoffs at him. "All that power Rudy, and what has it brought you? When will you be satisfied?" Rudy shouts out in anger. "I'M GETTING TIRED OF YOUR DAMN PREACHING! POWER IS ALL THAT MATTERS IN LIFE!" Marsha regains her earlier enthusiasm. "Well in that case, you should be nice and happy with your life!" Rudy moves with blinding speed and throws a jab, but Marsha just catches it. Rudy tries to budge, but can't move. "This... this can't be! I need more power!"

"You know what, Rudy? I'm getting tired of this fight!" A blue light surrounds him and paralyzes his body before holding him off of the ground. Marsha then removes all the excess energy from Rudy's body before he shrinks back to his former height. Marsha then drops him as he can barely stay conscious. "You see, Rudy? Power isn't everything."

Later, Marsha had brought Rudy to the fortress. Nameless had put him inside of a white room with special lights to knock out his powers, but only as long as he is in there. Marsha looks up at Nameless. "How did you know where I was," asked Nameless. Marsha smiles. "I saw your memories right after I took on energy form. That's how I knew about your fortress." Marsha now looks sympathetic. "Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have cared." Marsha now hugs him and he pats her blue head. "I know that now Marsha, but I couldn't be too sure. I didn't know how you would react." Marsha jumps back and takes his hand, pulling him in a childish way.

"Well, come on! You said you would take me back to the movies if you had time off!" Nameless chuckles. "Okay, okay, but you might want to change your appearance." Marsha looks down at herself. "Oh yeah, energy form, plus I'm naked sooooo..." Marsha creates a gray plaid short-sleeved dress and brown sandals, then changes back to human form. Marsha then regains her smile. "Come on, let's go! I still want to see Abbott and Costello! Those guys are hilarious!" Nameless picks up Marsha in his arms and the two of them make warm smiles. "We'll fly first class." And with that, they take to the skies, back to the states.

Next Volume: Africa, 5 years ago. Japan, 1550 A.D.