Galaxy Chronicles Archive

Dear readers,

I've decided to collect the first 'career' or arc of my series here, mostly for a more direct public access for reviews and honest critiques. These tales involve supergirls, yes, but the world that they live in is not of DC or the AU, though it uses those elements. This is a universe of no clear good guys, were every side, regardless on how it presents itself, is evil to some extent, just some less so than others. This galaxy is not sterile blandness with only two or three powers being chosen by fate. No one is here, all things eventually pass.

But whatever happens, the galaxy is a big place, and heroes and villians alike will not be missed...

Enjoy, folks. A Galaxy of war, hardship, love, hate, despair, life and death beckons...

...

I've been having quite a day, you can tell? ^_^

-Ordo

***---***

Galaxy Chronicles

Career I
Journeyman

Interview with Destiny
(Based heavily upon CF’s ‘Clara’s Destiny’, the Interview scene.)

***---***

“Everyone’s talking about Superwoman, Kyle.” Robert grinned, patting his friend on the back, as the younger man came out of the break room. “And you get to talk to her, man! Right beside Goge Rino, himself!” Murmurs were already going up and down throughout the Ice-FOX News building; normally Goge Rino would never send an assistant interviewer unless he really needed to.

“I know what I’m doing, but not why or how, Rob.” Robert frowned. Kyle at times was very incisive, rude, chaotic, temperamental, but he could also be of great mirth and melancholy, quicker to laugh than he was to anger, not to mention deep and thoughtful when he got the opportunity.

He was also incredibly straight up and down blunt, if he had something to say, he would speak it either very plainly or very incisively, depending on what mood he was in.

“Don’t worry; we always have faith in you to tell the truth, no matter on how much we don’t like… oh shit.”

“… I think I’m asking her questions after Rino opens the show, so I can only pray he’s feeling tactful, in the least.” Kyle and Robert bite their lips. A throaty giggle came from behind Kyle, and a tall, busty dark haired woman put her bronze arms around them, grinning.

“Tactful Rino is practically an oxymoron, boys. I tell you, it’s not even in his vocabulary.”

“Gee, that makes us feel a whole lot better, Vanity.” Kyle gasped as she squeezed them both playfully. Her body was like warm marble, you didn’t get out of her grip unless she allowed you to.

“Oh, come on, cheer up, gloom and doom boy, she just needs someone to talk to.” Kyle let out a loud laugh, the jest had been cheesy and weak, but he could always count on Vanity to snap him out of his moods.

“Yeah, I’m sure I can do that, thank you, Vanity.” He matched her Cheshire cat grin; he marched off with a wave.

“You go do that, Kyle. Just remember, she requested no touching, no sex questions, and no staring.” Robert handed Kyle the list of questions as they crossed into backstage. He saw a glimpse of Rino sitting behind a massive desk with a small leather chair to his left. The crowd had already started to assemble, most of them reporters from all over Verunive, some even intergalactic.

Rino was an Aelorian, as much of his perfect physique and chiseled features, laughing and talking with his staff and other reporters looking for pre show statements. He wore a suit that just barely contained his impressive body, but for the oddest reason Kyle could practically smell the fear and unease that man had underneath that face.

No sex, no touching, no staring? In front of an Aelorian, one of the most sensuous races of the galaxy, and one of the most liberal when it came to sexuality with other super-beings? Just how much did Superwoman know of the world?

Nothing, the answer came in the back of his mind, and he shuddered.

Kyle felt a cold hand grip his spine, and he fought to expel it. From what he had read of other articles, many of these reporters hadn’t gotten very well along with Superwoman. He knew that Kryptonian Protectors were said to be few and far in between, especially in this part of the Galaxy, but he’d thought that such a thing would garner respect and attention.

From what he had read, Superwoman had it pretty merciless with the reporters, porno magazines, and throughout it all, a really frustrating time with largely the male population on the planet, super or not.

At the moment, all he could ask himself was just why this girl held a face of unflappable civility while apparently rejecting anything of a relationship, with ANYONE. I mean, he could imagine her fears of hurting someone in an intimate moment, in his more melancholic moments, but she had to have looked for SOMEONE in her life! There were many ‘helpers’ to choose out from, but she acted like she was the only one shouldering a vast burden.

And just what the fuck was a Kryptonian Protector acting likes she was operating alone in a world full of Aelorians, Street level mutants, Designers, and possibly more that could help her? She barely even noticed they were there, and went about her ‘mission of peace’ like she was the only one on it. Just what was going on here?

“Remember, you’re doing the questioning after Rino opens up.” Robert whispered in his ear, snapping Kyle out of his long reverie. Kyle squared his shoulders and unconsciously made the sign of the Haloed Eagle over his chest as he went front stage in the studio.

As Kyle sat down, Rino leaned over and whispered harshly in his ear.

“So, you’re going to be my assistant, today, dirt boy? Just remember to ask the questions and nothing else. Remember, those are from our sponsors and our viewers, so be considerate, and ask nothing else unless I give you permission. For your own sake, keep that dirt boy mouth of yours clean, okay?”

“…Yes, Mister Rino, I'll keep my mouth as clean as possible, though I hope that you don't have any dirt on yours." He growled back. Rino gave him a hot scowl, but said nothing, looking straight ahead at a blue suited, incredibly attractive young blond woman, who was scowling unhappily.

Kyle felt his disappointment in her turn into a blazing inferno as he looked into her eyes. This woman, despite her nobility and altruism, had an air of alienation and haughtiness that raised his hackles like nothing else. Though she herself possibly never bothered to look, she carried herself like only she the only one important.

The lights turned on, and his pale grey eyes shined in the light.

“Tonight folks, we have a very special guest today. Someone that needs no introduction, but lets give it up anyways for the one, the only, the Superwoman!!!"

***---***

Superwoman scowled as she came on stage, sitting across from Rino and some young boy with lanky brown hair and creepy pale grey eyes. Didn’t she say that she wanted to be interviewed just by Rino?

The camera’s loyally tracked her upper chest and skirt as she sat down on a chair on the other side of Rino, who looked away, wiping some drool from the side of his mouth. She scowled, and looked disapprovingly upon the teenager. The boy fixed her with a stare that simply disturbed her in its transparency. His mouth was fixed closed, and any smile he could’ve had was simply gone from his face when she looked at him.

For some reason, the boy’s total, utterly stern countenance sent a tear of disappointment and anger through her, like she had already missed the helpless attraction of the males, and was disappointed in seeing someone who apparently wasn’t. Though she pressed it aside, it was like splinter lodged in her heart, it stung it her more deeply than any of the pettiness of these fragile little creatures. Even the Aelorians weren’t like…this.

“Ah, Superwoman, welcome! I heard traffic was slow today, but I imagine it wasn’t hard ‘walk’”

“I didn’t walk. I flew.” She snapped, locking gazes with the boy, who, for some unfathomable reason, grinned broadly like he had heard the funniest thing in the world.

“Erm, that's right folks! She flew everyone! Hell, she might be joining with us Aelorians soon, who knows.”

“I wasn’t here to join the Aelorians. I’m here to clear up a few things about myself that have gotten out of control.”

“That you will, and we will ask you some questions on the matter. First off, we know your Kryptonian; we know you’re on a mission of peace. But why do you do this, anyways? Do you feel a deep need to help those beneath you?” Rino asked.

“Why are people asking me why? I’ll tell you why: it’s my destiny! Can’t you people get that through your heads?” She pouted like a child, crossed her arms like an insolent schoolgirl.

“May I ask you a few questions, as it seems that Rino is running out of things to say?” The boy said calmly. Superwoman glared at him, her eyes flashing red.

“No, you may not.”

“How about you ask me something?” The boy’s eyes softened considerably, though they still had a hard, though what seemed to be sad edge.

“If you have no questions, Kyle, we’ll gladly…”

“…Why do people treat me like I’m something to be stared at, ogled, and touched without my permission? Why treat me like a piece of freshly baked bread in a land that everyone seems to be having a famine? Why?”

You’re a novelty. A voice in the back of her head said what she thought he would say, and she told it to shut up.

“…Because you don’t know their minds well enough to let them know you have said ‘no.’”

“WHAT?”

“You,” He stood up, and suddenly Superwoman felt that transparent gaze upon her soul. It sent shudders of uncertainty and anger down her spine. “Don’t live beyond your cape. You never bothered to stop and think about what you were setting out to do. Destiny is great and all that, but being born with a cape and powers doesn’t mean you are chosen by God.

“Many, especially to everyone here, you are simply playing hard to get, others you are simply alienating yourself from even having an ounce of social life. You never asked yourself of what you want, of what you desire, or shared your thoughts with another.”

His assault sent her mind reeling, her mouth gaped open. That transparent gaze came back in its entire terrible see though intensity. It was like as if he was looking right through her soul, what made her Superwoman, what made her Karla Kent. Though he was human on the outside, it was like being stared down by something so utterly frightening and terrible that no way it could be human. Could it?


“You consider yourself utterly alone in a world of perverts and frail bodies, but have never bothered to learn what they think, how they think. You simply did your destiny without looking back or having anything to fall back to as it crumbled to dust underneath the boot of human cruelty. You never considered yourself human, always thought yourself special because of your powers, and never once did you go out and learn that there are others that could help or harm you.

“I see in you many things, among them are your total ignorance of yourself. You never tested yourself against other people, asked what they saw in you. Well, we are sorry we never asked how special you were because of your mission. We’re sorry you never paid a moments notice to on how ready you were to go forth with your destiny. We’re sorry that we don’t kiss your feet every time you demand our unquestioned respect to your endless, pointless mission to save everyone without any thought of what you, yourself really want.

“And finally…”

Superwoman roared in anger, she stood up so rapidly that the chair cracked into the wall, her eyes blazing red and tears. Her face was twisted in a snarl of hate, anger, and sadness. She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. The crowd gasped loudly. None had dared to speak during his tirade, and none could do more than gasp and watch blankly as he dangled like a puppet from her hand.

Tears of pain ran down from his eyes, but he looked at her through sad eyes. He was in her hands now. And now she was going to kill him for making her weak.


Her foster father had said ‘listen to her heart’, and right now, despite everything she could’ve wanted, everything he had said had been true. His every word had hit her self-esteem like broadsides from a battleship, cracking her open in a place where, for all her powers, she was defenseless.

This wasn’t what she had wanted to hear, and she was horrified by her reaction to it. This man had told the truth, and it had wounded more than even kryptonite. And she was going to repay him for holding up to the pursuit of truth and justice by killing him?

Then again, he had been very belligerent.

She dropped him like a rag doll unto the floor. He got up, gasping for breath from a bruised throat.

“You…are cruel. But you are right, absolutely right.” She said, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry to have told you all that such a foul way, Superwoman.” She was surprised by the genuine sorrow and regret on his face. “But when I saw you coming in like you were the only one suffering underneath a burden without regard for those around you…I saw red. I…am sorry.”

“I think…that this session is over, Mr. Kyle. Now if you excuse me, I have a few jobs to do, and someone to see. Goodbye.” She walked briskly out the left exit, and Kyle exited to a back stage, leaving a stunned audience and a blank faced Rino behind.

***---***

“Hey! Hey, Kyle, you're in here man?" Robert asked when he entered the men’s bathroom, and then he heard the sound of someone violently vomiting into one of the toilets.

“Hey, when you’re finished, Director White wants a word with you. He was real mad, but he managed to say that you didn’t really let him down though he’s disappointed that you couldn’t control that out of control temper of yours. Man, you were harsh! I’ve never seen you that angry, especially to a woman! Goddess, I'd thought you blow an artery up there before she would splatter into a grease stain

There was a long silence.

“I…Once I meet with Mr. White, I’m requesting a very long vacation for unpaid overtime. And Robert, if you see Vanity ever here again, tell her that whatever punishment she can dream up, I’ll take a thousand fold. I guess that goes with Mr. White too.”

Additional Note:

Yes, it lacks clarity, focus, and control. Yes, I'm furious with some people, and my clarity on it shows.

Try your best, anyways. Your reviews will help.

Thank you,
Ordo

Okay, I feel much calmer this morning.

yeah, sorry for the headaches, people. The Dark in me flowed out from within my subconcionous, through my fingers and unto the keyboard. I was so pissed off that I didn't even look back.

Yeah, Kyle is raving against himself as he is apparently raving against Superwoman here. I'm going to treat this as sort of a dark personal allegory.

Excluding this, I got a dozen story seeds for shorts down. I'm making Kyle pretty much the dark, fiery side of my personality, and making Vanity the resident...well, lets just say that she saves him from more than one dangerous situation, much more.

Again, I apologize if I offended, annoyed, or irritated anyone with this short, and I'm sorry I had to vent myself on you guys.

...

I'm one of those people, ya'know?

Ah hell, I'll post the seeds once I'm ready.

Seeya

The concept of the story is interesting... apparently a world of humans and some people who are more than human and with a haughty, isolated, arrogant yet naive Protector. I think I understand what you are trying to do... showing that an ordinary man can help her to escape the restrictive shell that she's stuffed herself into and truly live.

Based on her 'job' and her self-defined limits on connecting the the people around her, she's living an unhappy, narrow life. Yet she could live more grandly and happily than any of us if she wished.

You've clearly borrowed a lot from AU and DC Comics and created a character that reminds me strongly of Laurel Gand (Andromeda) of Daxam. Daxxamites are an offshoot of the Kryptonian race and she was a stand-in for Supergirl for some time. Unfortunately, she was horrified of touching anyone from a 'lesser race', which didn't make her very good in combat unless she wore a trans-suit (think of a body-sized condom). Her initial attitude was a lot like your Superwoman.

All that said, you concept is interesting but you need to work more on refining the story telling. It's a it jerky and difficult to follow... I can catch get your drift, but you need to develop the characters a little more and focus on making it a smooth read. But I will look forward to continued episodes.

Shadar

That was unexpected shadar, thank you.

Believe it or not, Superwoman didn't really have that much of a place in my story, just another person that Kyle lost his temper over and had unexpected concequences.

If you love Superwoman (who is indeed what could be called a 'Runaway'), wait till I get to the part with Vanity.

Yeah, I've been cold turkey with writing for a very long time. As you said, I'm going to develop the characters. I'm seeing Superwoman as being a off on character, unless I develop her more.

Alright, I'm off to write the part that was supposed to come before or after this. I can't promise any real action, but as you said, need to develop the characters and work on the flow of the story.

Thank you,
Ordo

Ordo, I like where this is going. I was expecting a similar interview from "Clara's Destiny" by ConceptFan, but you cut it off perfectly and immediately humanized superwoman. Keep writing - I'm intrigued to see where you take this.

That was quite a nice bit of reading. Hopefully while she has damaged that painful experience will bring her to a better place.

Alright, I got the universe ironed out a bit, and started it up again. Though I'll be using 'Clara' and 'Kyle' again, they are in different jobs.

Here's a key factor when it comes to history, and the backstory for this universe is no different: in time, all things pass.

So far:

-As far as the rest of the known universe is concerned, Earth's Federation (really a three-waypuppet government between kryptonians, the AU factions, and the metahumans on earth) died along with the entire solar system when a terrifyingly powerful warp storm essentially made any travel in that area totally unfeasiable. Not only did the total and complete loss of both the Velorians and Arions primary operations and the most dangerous and strategically important world essentially make the supremis wars grind to a total halt, it forced the two sides (after a few 'scuffles' within thier own halls) to finally talk to each other.

-Imperial Krypton was founded centuries before and was virtually unstoppable in it's home galaxy. Thier empire rapidly decayed into a state of the utter hopelessness of the 'plebes/frails' and the unstoppable kryptonian class Master race.

-The New Gods from DC comics were destroyed when they attempted to boom-tube thier way unto earth, only for the Immaterium, and the things that dwell within tore them apart and consumed thier worlds, ending thier war. In thier place rose a race of extremely powerful humaniod monsters that proved to be extremely resposive to genetic enhancement, making them virtually the defacto super-weapon breeding race throughout three galaxies. Though through five thousand years, they suffered a break as increased genetic enhancement seperated the males from the females. The males became a race of ravaging conquerers, the Oyuajitta, while the females became the Mazonians, both unable to breed with thier former mates, though able to breed, abeit slowly, with other compatiable humaniod races.

-Other races came and went into the main stage. The Eastern Fringe Empire co-existed with the large amount of Mazonians in thier region, and set up a culture that was like a revamped Nippon/China.

-The Solar System, after five thousand years, returned more or less to realspace. Though the planet was forever altered in a profound and eldiritch way, the humans had endured under the guidance of the Saviour Emperor and HIs Lord Solar, and though they rapidly rebuilt thier system to a formidable power, there are those who are impatient and thus stow away on unwary vessels unaware that what had become at first legend, passed into myth, has now returned.

Whew.

Alright, I'll work on the character's next. Seeya later.
-Ordo