Disclaimer; You know it, so just repeat it to yourself.
Oh ye, didn't get to do my final read through, so please be gentle.
:}
Jade rushed into the Vega residence, almost panicked from the urgency of Tori's text. The text had just said 'Something happened, get here ASAP.' Jade wasn't sure what could cause that kind of panic, but just knew Tori needed her. Besides, her work on the movie was done for now. After fifteen days of shooting, Jade's part was over. That had put her in just under half the movie, and she was featured enough that this could well be her big break. In that time, she'd been monitoring her friends, making sure no one but Tori, and perhaps her annoying sister, knew her big secret.
"What's up?" The goth asked Trina. The older girl was busy, opening the door while seeming to be getting ready for something. A duffel bag was slung over the older Vega's shoulder, and she looked worried. The biggest tell, however, was that she was a couple of inches shorter. Jade had never seen the girl in flats before.
"Epic went back to where he got his powers, had them redo whatever, and now he's on a tear through the streets." Trina said. "Tori wants you here where it's safe."
"Wait, are you saying Captain Epic is tearing up the streets looking for me?" Jade asked.
"Last I heard. And it's bad. Dad's in rout to try to stop him, and I'm going too. Innocent lives are in danger. I-I can't just sit here." Trina looked nervous, scared even, but she was determined. It was the first timer Jade ever felt respect for the older girl.
"What about Prefect?" Jade asked.
"He's in rout too, but I'm thinking we're gonna need all the help we can get to quiet things down out there." Trina replied. "I have to go. You stay with Tori, keep her company. And if anything happens, let he know..."
"I will." Jade replied. "I will."
Trina rushed out the door, fumbling with her keys. Jade walked in, and up the stairs, only to find Tori on her way down. "Good, you're here. Turn on the TV, and lets think about where you can hide until this is over."
"The TV?" Jade asked. "Wait, why haven't I heard about this before?"
"The Good Guys league has great relations with the media, and the owners often sponsor them." Tori explained. "Their used to covering up when a hero goes overboard. Keeping it out of the press makes it easier for the DA to bury it, so no one knows about the little slip ups our hero's make. And yes, dad hates that. It means a hero can get away with hurting innocents, and the villain usually takes the blame. Sloppy heroing."
"Then why turn on the TV?" Jade asked.
"He's tearing up the town." Tori explained. "Only so long you can keep a lid on that. If Prefect can't talk him down, they'll probably start covering the story."
Jade turned on the TV, tuning to a local news channel. They suffered through about ten minutes of local coverage of various events, then broke to a live report of Epic's battle with Golden Shield. "It looks like Golden Shield is doing what he can, but Epic is just so epic. We can only hope that whatever villain is mind controlling him is quickly found and stopped before one of our beloved defenders is forced to hurt the other. And prefect is on the battle field. You can see him trying to talk... OH MY GOD, Prefect just shot Golden Shield. He shot him in the back."
"We have to call Trina." Jade said. "She's heading into trap. You're dad's down, maybe out."
"Daddy?" Tori asked, starting to cry.
Jade watched as Epic tossed the police hero around, smashing buildings and trying to pull the man apart, like the young hero had done to several people all ready. The camera panned, showing other victims, and Tori cried as the blood on the screen started to resemble one of the horror movies Jade loved so much. It was becoming too much.
"Tori, you need to relax. You're dad's tough. He can take it." Jade assured her.
"Trina's not nearly as experienced." Tori said. "My god, I'm going to lose them. Jade, you have to do something." Tori was gripping Jade's shoulders with all her might. "There after you... This is your fault..." The Latina was getting hysterical. Jade pulled a device out of her purse to calm her girlfriend down.
Jade doubted she'd get the chance to feel guilty over the stunner she'd used to knock out Tori. But one thing Tori said she knew was true. "It's my fault. I'm going to have to put a stop to this." Jade looked up to see Holly Vega standing on the stairs. "Take care of her. And when this is over, just... Just let her know, I couldn't change." Jade was crying as she rushed out to her car.
In her trunk were the various gadgets she'd built over the fifteen days she'd been shooting the movie. Inventing things seemed to help her relax. Among them was a skin tight force field that also enhanced strength, and a long range electro-dimetional transportation device, previously only used as part of her safety switch. Jade also had her costume. Pulling on the armored coat over the other parts of it, Jade wondered how things had gotten so screwed up. Evan Horrible hadn't faced a moment like this.
'Trina should be at the battle field by now. I need about five minutes, then I'll do what I have to to end this.' Jade, now Doctor Devastation, thought as she set the transporter. A brief zap and she felt her body flowing along the telephone signals, up into space, off a satellite, and back down to earth near the battle. She quickly found the severely wounded Golden Shield, and saw Trina trying to fend off Epic while Prefect laughed. "Hold on, I'll be right back." Jade said softly, then transported herself and Officer Vega to her lair. Quickly she pushed him into the healing pod, and set it to rejuvenate.
Doctor Devastation returned to the battle field on a combat skid. "Captain Epic, I hear you've been looking for me." She shouted out. "Well I brought something for you." She hefted the Demotivater Ray.
Immediately he turned and rushed her. Using his speed he dodged back and forth making it hard for her to draw a bead, and slammed full force into her. He threw her into a wall with all his might, collapsing it and hurting several people who'd been hiding in the building. While that was going on, Trina, who was calling herself Golden Shield two, started boxing with Prefect. Not as powerful as his protege, and certainly not used to going at it with an opponent who could match his powers, he soon found himself on the defensive. But he was an experienced crime fighter, so he wouldn't be there for long.
Meanwhile, Devastation was doing what she could. Having shaken loose from the ruble, she slammed Epic with a quick upward blow, then pulled some ruble off several people so the EMT's could reach them. Devastation then moved away from the building and waited for Epic to come closer. Epic raced towards her, ready to rip her apart, only to be met in a test of strengths. "You want to hear a funny?" Devastation asked her foe, despite being overpowered. "I found it fairly easy to modify the Demotivator. Turned it into a touch based weapon, and now I'm slowly depowering you. You may win this fight, but you're still losing your powers."
"Not for long." The enraged hero said. "You're gonna die bitch, and so's that bitch over there, and then we're gonna blame you for everything. Every death, every injury. And when I get my powers back again, and I will, I'll be back on top, and you'll just be a memory."
Jade, under her mask, wasn't worried about how she'd be remembered. She just knew she had to win this one, and that meant more then eliminating this jerks powers, it meant taking down Prefect. She'd brought a weapon for that too, but had to deal with Epic first. His strength was draining, but not nearly fast enough. So she broke free, just for a second, catching him in her friction beam, now hidden in her body armor. 'Charged it up helping the grips move stuff on the set.' She remembered, proud of having found a legal use for her device.
Devastation shot Prefect in the back, exactly the way he'd shot Golden Shield. The difference was, her weapon wasn't some force beam that would injure so much as a discharge pulse that caused the entire electric grid for the area to discharge in a safe-ish ark that electrocuted Prefect. Jade hoped she'd set the buffers right, and the voltage would only incapacitate him.
Epic broke free of the friction field before Prefect went down. Jade had to considerate on Prefect, just to make sure the hero didn't eat the full voltage of the power lines and become extra crispy. But as prefect feel, Jade felt something pierce her defense field, and her armor. The sharp pole did massive internal damage, and caused her new safety program to go off, transporting her from the battle field.
Captain Epic screamed his rage at the heavens, but when he turned to continue his rampage, he found himself face to face with Trina, the new Golden Shield. Her powers were nearly full, only hampered by the beating she'd taken and her level of exhaustion. His powers were reduced by multiple applications of Jade's Demotivater. His strength had been fueled by his rage, but with Deviations departure from the battle field, his powers finally gave way. Out powered, he lost to Trina and her martial arts training in just over a minute. The press would record the whole thing for prosperity.
The Camera came on, showing the bloodied face of Doctor Devastation. "Hi all. Quick vlog this time. As you know, Captain Epic chose to come after me, despite my retiring from villainy. Tore up the streets and everything. What you probably didn't know was Vicky, the girl I'm into, she's Golden Shields daughter. Not to be confused with his protege." She coughed, and blood flowed out of her mouth and stained her table top. "Normally I'd be in my healing tube, but I put Golden Shield in there. He'll live, walk, be there for his family. I... I only had one tube. I'm dying. I think a lung is collapsing, definitely pierced, and I'm bleeding internally. Sorry Vicky, but this was my fight..." The hand reached out, pushing the send button, simultaneously ending the recording. Jade could feel her will slipping as she slid down the table and hit the floor. It hurt, just not as much as the bleeding wound she had through her. "Yea, probably should have transported the spear Epic used as well." Jade said, or thought, she couldn't tell any more.. Her world went gray, filled only with pain as her breathing got harder, then black.
:}
Don't be too mad at Tori. Conflicted loyalties, and her family were getting hurt. She'll probably regret that outburst later.
So anyways, that was that. Does anyone want another chapter? I mean, I could end it right here. Just saying.