Some of you may recognize this story as I've published it before. My time at home has allowed me to look back at this story and figure out the direction I want to take it.
Enjoy. Be safe out there.
Chapter 1: Power
"Breaking News: stolen prized jewels found inside the bodies of three individuals in the north..."
"After a wild night, one college student was found dead alongside two others. They were also found with 20 pounds of illegal substances on them collectively
"A total of 18 people have died this past month due to mysterious murders."
"Reports are saying these attacks might be of the superpowered kind..."
The tv shut off engulfing the room into darkness as the grey haired man shifted off his chair. He grumbled, "Darn tv, never has anything good. For once I'd like to hear some good news."
The grumpy, older gentleman threw on some sunglasses and made his way across his crowded apartment to his window. He heaved himself outside and walked down the fire escape. Once he stepped down, he heard a small meow and saw a white cat curl up to his leg.
"SHIT!" He flung the cat across the alley and booked it towards the street. He didn't make it far as a cloaked figure appeared in front of him. A gloved hand reached out, colliding with his chest and sent him flying back crashing into the dumpsters. Soft heels echoed across the empty alleyway, as the figure approached the man who was desperately trying to crawl away.
"Now, now Georgie if the clown didn't get ya then you know I will." The figure was a woman, with a voice he dreaded to hear.
"How did you, how did you find me," he grunted frozen in his place as the cloaked figure knelt down beside him. A gloved hand cradled his chin, making him face her. Although they were in broad daylight, the shadows of the building made it hard for him to properly see her face under her hood, but he could see the blue, almost grey, glow of her eyes.
She laughed, "You're special Georgie. Never have I seen one man fuck up so badly. Why, I just had to come find you myself!"
"Kill him! Bastard got dirt on my newly washed fur!" The man turned away from the ear-splitting yowl of the cat he had forgotten about. The enraged kitten clawed down his chest and he screamed, but before he could push the cat off, the woman grabbed the cat and began scratching behind her ears.
"Now, now Kenya," the woman hummed, "Your fur can be returned to its pristine white coat, however, the blood that drips from this special man will be harder to wash off."
"Are you seriously talking to the cat right now- "
A hard kick to the man's face sent him flying further down the dark alley. "Where's my money Georgie," the woman sang threateningly. The cat slid from her arms and flounced onto the dumpster that the man laid under groaning. He looked at the street, not far from him, if he made it – maybe he could escape. She wants to remain in the shadows, she wouldn't follow him. He startled when he looked back and she was standing above him, looking to where he was. He gulped and the noise brought her attention back to him. She knelt down causing him to whimper, backing further into the dumpster. "My. Money."
"The money's gone!" He coughed out. "I gave it to Max before I ran, because I thought you would go after him instead."
She laughed as if he just said something absolutely ridiculous. "You wanna know where I found Max," she grabbed his wrist, tightly crushing it while ignoring his screams of pain, and continued, "I found him sleeping in a very beautiful mansion at an unmarked location in South Africa. I would tell you the location, but it tragically burned to the ground. I'm sorry to say, but I was told that Max didn't make it.
Max was also a special man, but I had other pressing matters. For example, Max found himself with an enormous sum of money and enough time to build a gorgeous hideaway, all under my pretty little nose. I kept on asking myself, now where could he have possibly gotten his dirty hands on that money. Last I heard, he wanted no part in the money transferring process and he was all brawn no brain. My mission was to figure out who was the brains…"
She let go of his now purple wrist and he writhed in pain. She watched his hand flop as he shook, the only reason it was still attached was because of the skin that remained attached around it. It was quite gross actually. She sighed while standing up, "Do you know why I think you're so special Georgie."
The man groaned in response, hot tears spilling from his face as he glared at the cloaked woman above him, "Because, I almost got away with it."
"Ding, ding, ding, ding Mr. Brains. You almost got away with it making you a very special man indeed! You should be honored Georgie, so few can only imagine the fleeting experience of almost running away!"
She giggled venomously, sending a shiver down the man's spine. "You're insane."
"I'm crazy to know Georgie, did you keep any money for yourself?"
"Enough to run away and go dark. I'm tired of working for people like you, of working with monsters like you."
The woman in the cloaked sighed, "I am a monster Georgie. A monster you prodded when you stole millions of dollars from and gave it away like it was yours to give."
Now it was Georges' turn to laugh, "You can't control everyone princess. We put up with you for years after Richard remaining loyal to the cause but never to you. You were never cut out for this shit princess, you're of the rails."
The woman let out a low growl and felt her hands burn with a glowing blue light. George didn't back down and he huffed, "It's only a matter of time princess, the true mob king will take up Richard's legacy and you'll see everyone abandon you. I almost got away but, as we sit here and talk, the real king is paving his kingdom."
The woman gripped his throat, lifting him of the ground and slamming him against a wall with unbridled force. Her speed caused her hood to fly off from her head revealing her curly blonde hair and glowing blue eyes. She gave him a sick, sweet smile, "When you get to hell, give Richard my best."
Her eyes began glowing red as they emitted laser beams directly into his own eyes and he slowly disintegrated. It was fast, so she didn't have to endure anymore screams. He was only a writhing body, sliding down the walls. The woman looked at the body for a few seconds before she felt her cat jump onto her shoulders. "Another day, another fool put in his place."
The young woman hummed and lifted her gloved hand, "An arrogant fool who confirmed my suspicions." Light blue emanated from the palm of her hand as she let the laser beam engulf the body. Leave no trace, leave no tracks. You don't want to come back.
She hated that awful nursery rhyme.
"Don't they know who you are? Richard has been dead for years people, get your head out of his ass."
The young woman giggled, "Didn't you hear Kenya, there's someone out there with an even bigger asshole that all of Richards men want to crawl in."
From the corner of her eye she could make out the disgust in her cat's face, "I repeat don't they know who you are? George here didn't last very long, aren't they afraid of you anymore?"
The bright blue light faded, there was nothing left; the young woman gave her cat a sad smile, "Fear can only do so much to control people Kenya, especially against all the other emotions. Besides, I didn't ask for the loyalty of Richards men – they mean nothing to me in the end."
"Well then, why didn't you ask George who he was really working for?"
The young woman carefully removed her cat from her shoulders and lifted her hood. She floated up and sighed again, "I know who it is Kenya."
Kenya made a face. Well, attempted to with the limits of being a cat. "Then, why are we wasting time with these fools?"
The young woman laughed before rocketing off into the sky and twirling past the clouds. "Let him continue to underestimate me for that will be his downfall. Besides, he's doing my job for me by showing me who I can and cannot trust."
Her cat yowled and dug her nails into the arms of her owner, not that it phased the young woman in black as she flew across the country back to her home.
It was nighttime in another part of the word. At an unmarked location where buildings were scarce the only light the world had to offer was the young moon and the numerous stars decorating the night sky. This all worked in the favor of another young woman who was perched high on a tree viewing a dark building that sat a mile away. She was dressed in a deep red and black suit, covered head to toe, save for the open area around her mouth which was pursed in thought. Behind her glasses, her bright pink eyes focused on counting the men surrounding the building and then searching for the entrance. While the men did their rotations around the building, she shot from the trees and landed on the ceiling as they stood in their new spots. She was quick to duck under the cameras while the light blinked signifying that the cameras where refreshing.
She crawled near an air vent and lifted it open with ease. She snaked inside and closed it behind her. Now inside the vents she slowly floated forward and listened for any footsteps below. The vents would take her very far, the owner of this private bank played a crucial role in designing the structure of this building. Her treasure was in the basement, three floors down, and she had to reach the elevator first before going anywhere.
If memory served her correctly, there should be an exit on this left turn and oh - she was right. The young woman couldn't help the smile on her face as she made her way to the exit and listened behind it. There were four floors. Two above, two below. Each floor had different security measures and each floor held a quarter of the Bow family wealth.
The young woman huffed in amusement, banks were so old news these days and it was comical to see how rich people found new ways to store their infinite wealth and treasures.
When she was sure she was clear, she quietly opened the vent and slipped out.
The hallway lighting was dim as she searched her surroundings. The top floor wasn't as heavily guarded as the bottom floor and that's only because family heirlooms were kept on this floor. Those heirlooms hardly held much monetary value save for the few priceless art pieces done by a great, great grandmother and some jewelry pieces. That was not the treasure she sought after tonight. This floor had two large rooms and she luckily landed on the hallway with no entrances to those room. Hah, that wasn't luck, she knew better to say that. It was careful planning, hacking and memorizing her whole scheme.
There aren't many rich families left in this world and those that are known to the world, often keep their wealth tucked away in many banks and personal accounts. The underground rich families are the ones who like to go the extra mile creating and guarding their wealth in one secure location. They security the hire are constantly being switched out, so no one becomes comfortable here. The guards who do work here have hour long shifts but are compensated nicely and there is a small town hundred miles out in where they can stay in the meantime.
The second and third floor held a lot of money collected in various ways. Coins, cash or bars it was all locked away in private cells that were guarded with two men each. There where five cells that didn't have a hallway through the middle like the top floor so she might have to go through some of the men to get to the elevator on the other side. Once she made it to the elevator on the main floor just had to go straight to the lowest floor and get her treasure.
Sounds easy enough.
She huffed while waiting for the elevator down to the first floor. The building floor plan is a mess and so she couldn't exactly take the vents all the way down and she only had a couple minutes before the guards communicate with one another about their whereabouts. The elevator door opened, and she sauntered right in. Initially, when she read the floor plans, she was surprised to see that the elevators had no cameras, but she assumed the family felt confident that it wasn't necessary. It made sense to her, they had a lot of security in place and the way the building is makes it difficult for people to just come in and take stuff, but those people didn't have the intelligence nor skill to pull this off.
She looked at her watch before setting her timer. She had ten minutes to get to the bottom floor and get out. The elevator ding and as the doors opened, she set her timer. She flew out of the elevator and grabbed the gun from the first guy who saw her. She pulled him forward and used the gun to yank him over her shoulder and slamming him into the ground. She hopped up to avoid being tackled by the second and kicked him in the shoulders making him fall on top of his partner. They both tried to get up, but she flew down grabbing their heads and knocking them both together.
She paused for a second, hoping no one heard their tumbling before rocketing off to the right side of the hallway. She flew behind one guard grabbing his head and using that momentum to swing her legs up and kick his partners face. The partner fell to the ground, out cold, and she circled back, twisting the head in her hands and knocking him into the wall. She kicked off of his body and flew near the next pair preparing to shoot her. She inhaled before she blew cold air onto their guns, watching as the ice quickly slid over their arms and up their mouths. She flew down using her arms to collide into their abdomens and flipped them over. She turned around and knocked their heads together too.
She looked at her watch: Three minutes in.
She turned the corner and flew to stand in front of the elevator. The hallways were far, and the rooms look dense, so she was grateful no one on the other side heard the tumbling from her fights. She fixed her goggles and stepped into the elevator.
She looked at her watch again: Five minutes in.
She huffed while stretching out her arms and getting ready to fly fast. The doors open and she shot out punching the first guard to lift his gun before kicking the other one on his head. Both were unconscious by her feet and she searched them for any key to open the door. When she found nothing, she looked back at the door and was a little surprised to see a keypad. Well that wasn't in the plans?
Slowly, she blew a thing frost of ice onto the keypad and when she pulled away, she could make out the ridges of fingerprints. She opened the door to a room that had various marble podiums holding some simple, some intricate pieces of jewelry that were covered by glass cases. Her treasure was sat in the middle of the room. There were thick red lasers sprawled all over the place and she knew those weren't there as an alert system, but they were placed to do real damage to anyone who might touch them.
Sliding off her cape, she craned her neck before lifting herself off the floor and weaving around the lasers. They were tightly packed together, and although she was grateful for her flexibility and her flying ability, she was struggling to get to the center. When she did, she found it difficult to do so with the way she had to bend her body in an uncomfortable manner. She slowly raised the lid, biting her lip when she felt the lasers scathe the top of her fingers. The space is too tight to move, time for plan B.
She set the lid back over the necklace and lifted her dark glasses from her face. Her pink eyes glowed red then she fired her own laser beans over the top of the glass. She carved a circle on the top of the glass covering and finally, removed the necklace. Gasping in satisfaction she watched it twinkle in her fingers under the red lights. It was a beautiful piece that was made of tiny white diamonds as the chain before circling a ruby. "I'll never tire at looking at diamonds."
Rumbling could be heard from the main floor, so she quickly pocketed the necklace before weaving back out of the lasers. She grabbed her cloak and flew to the elevator. Her time was up, security made their attendance check and are probably looking for her. When the elevator doors opened, there were four men standing there with their guns aimed at her. Thinking fast, she ducked before flying inside, pulling two men down, and using her body to break the legs of the other two men.
Not bothering to wait for the elevator, she shot out through roof and used her ice breath to keep the elevator in its place. She stood behind the elevator doors on the main floor and listened to the sounds of heartbeats of the men on the floor. There were around dozen heartbeats and she pursed her lips. Looking to avoid any more altercations, she took a deep breath and focused her power to the palm of her hands. Her palms glowed a bright pink and the light grew until it connected to form a larger ball of light that was half her size. She exhaled, pushing her power in front of her and it burned through the elevator doors. When she flew forward, she saw it push the guards out of the way and she was easily able to fly out of the building.
She kept flying until she reached her apartment in New York. She waited until she crawled through the window into her room before taking off her cloak and glasses. She grabbed the necklace and placed it in her safe which was located in her closet before slipping off her boots. Once she stripped off her gear, she tossed on an old pink sweater and walked to her computer. There was a notification on the middle screen that caught her eye and although she was looking forward to going to bed, the key word Utonium was not one to ignore.
"What are you up to now Professor," she mumbled to herself.
Professor Utonium was well-respected scientist from the city of Townsville. He has slowly gained recognition for his work trying to perfect his serum called Chemical X, that gives temporary superpowered abilities to soldiers to protect their monster ridden city. She decided to keep tabs on him when an acquaintance informed her, a couple years ago, that three adolescent boys had very similar powers to her. An idea that did not sit well with her. It turns out that those boys had an unfinished strain of Chemical X in their DNA and the Professor saved their lives by giving them the X their body needed to stabilize. Thus, becoming the Rowdyruff Boys, the prized heroes of Townsville.
Not much was known from them, but she was sure that the similarities between their powers was no coincidence. So, what is the Professor up to now?
The City of Townsville's Professor Utonium Makes a Promise to the Country to Defeat the X Supervillains
Oh.
That definitely confirms that theory.
Is that what they're calling her?
The article reads that Professor Utonium confirmed his discover of three X superhumans that are active around the world. Which is interesting considering she only knows about herself and another acquaintance she met five years ago.
She read aloud, "Three little girls were the victims of illegal Chemical X testing done by disgraced scientist Mojo Jojo. They were kept in an adoption center that was secretly providing children for illegal testing in exchange for money. Any information available about these girls state that they were siblings being tested as young as newborns before they disappeared from the written records."
The young woman paused; her earliest memory began when she woke up in a hospital. She was only days old, but she was hyper aware of her surroundings. Aware of nurses coming and going, talking to her and trying to comfort her. Aware of the doctors who were worried she was autistic because she wouldn't cry or make any noises. Aware of the couples who were looking for babies to adopt but were uncomfortable with her large pink eyes and long orange hair. She endured that for five years then she was given to a nunnery to raise for another six more. Until she finally ran away and began to use her powers to steal food and money to survive.
She was sure, she would've known if she was being poked and prodded by a disgraced scientist named Mojo Jojo. She was sure she was not an ex-lab experiment; she was sure that her powers were somehow the product of Chemical X in her DNA, but she was not sure that the other two superhumans in this world with powers like her are her sisters. It was obvious the Professor is lying to cover up what he really knows about her past but now the question is: what is he going to do with this information?
"Professor Utonium is in the process of creating an antidote to permanently remove the powers of any superhuman that has Chemical X in their system. Recent trials on the Rowdyruff Boys show that the antidote will be complete by the end of this year and he will unleash it to a secret force that will hunt the X supervillains and place them in prison."
A creator can easily take what he gives, not unless his creations have something to say about it.
An antidote that can take away her powers … A secret force that has it weaponized … The Rowdyruff Boys on her tail … How powerful are they? Is she powerful enough?
She looked at her shaky hands and crossed her fingers, her face remaining stoic. She hasn't felt this, this feeling since the church tried to exorcise her when she first showed her powers. What was it? Was it fear? There's so much she doesn't know about her past, but her younger self didn't have the same control over her powers as she does now. She shuddered at the memory while staring at a blurry image of her on one of her nightly raids. It was an action shot of her side as she blasted a huge ray of bright pink light to knock people out of her way. Would she be powerful enough to stand on her own against stronger forces?
She looked at the pictures of the other women beside hers. The one on her left was wearing a blue hooded cloak and was standing in the middle of a massacre of dozens of people, her fists laying by her side were glowing a bright blue. The one on her right was facing the camera, glowing green eyes and fists made it impossible to recognize her face but the blood on her body was easy to see. That was probably the last photos these people took before they met their unfortunate demise.
Sighing, she settled her chin onto her crossed hands. She remembered a white card an old acquaintance gave her that she kept near the end of her desk. She never put it away, she didn't want to forget meeting someone like her.
"This is so exciting! I've never met someone like me, what's your name? My name is Bubbles!"
"Blossom, my name is Blossom."
Blossom smiled, "Looks like I'm not alone… Dear sister."