Not the One – From Strength to Strength – Chapter 05-08

Written by Dru1076 :: [Sunday, 27 April 2014 13:47] Last updated by :: [Thursday, 08 May 2014 23:39]

Not the One – From Strength toStrength 

By Dru

Chapter 5

Ignoring the unimportant secretary, Susan turned to regard the drooling mess she had made of the two male owners. Their energetic eyes were wandering the unmatched contours of her body, and both of them had raging erections. While the other woman watched in disgust Susan started rubbing her flat stomach and gave the enthralled men smouldering looks full of suggestions. Her enhanced eyes were so deep to look that combined with her awesome physical presence the men were completely hypnotised.

“You’ll tell me where the place is, won’t you fellas?” As she moved to go past the counter, the offended secretary slammed the opening shut.

“Get out of here you whore!” she ordered, impotently pointing at the door.

“You have no idea how much danger your in, bitch. All I want from you is that house on the beach.”

“You must be crazy.”

“Open this up, or you’ll be cleaning up an awful mess.” Susan stood patiently while the angry old windbag gave her another string of insulting marching orders, ending with a threat.

“I’ll call the cops.”

“Go ahead and try that. But by the time you finish dialling you’ll have no arms.”

“That’s it.”

As the receptionist picked up the phone, Susan walked forward through the cedar counter to make expensive toothpicks from the beautiful wood. The receptionist punched the numbers into the phone, but as it started ringing Susan’s astounding grip was crushing her upper arms.

“What did I fucking tell you?”

Susan shook her head, pulling down in a quick and powerful motion that detached her victims arms from the shoulder joints. Bending her head to gruesome angles the bleeding woman took in the fact that she had just lost both her arms. Sanity drained from her face and she opened her mouth to scream. But she was robbed of that scream as Susan took her throat in vice-crushing grip. Pushing her finger up under the jawbone Susan turned the doomed woman’s head breaking point and beyond.

This scene had an undesired effect on the employers of the deceased. They had both passed out as their brains failed to cope with the demise of their long-serving secretary.

“Guess I’m doing the easy way after all,” she decided, applying with a clumsy mind force enough to control a hundred ignorant people. Playing around a bit, she sought a way to make that beach house hers in a legal kind of way. But until Susan learned more about her abilities all she could do was read their thoughts and talk to them telepathically. Pulling out of their heads without doing all that much damage, Susan got on haunches and woke them up.

“Hey! Wake up, you pussay-whipped fags.” Rolling them over she hoisted them up and carried them over to the water dispenser. Dropping them either side she smashed her hand through the bottle and crushed the metal dispenser beneath it. Both men shook the water from their faces as they rose.

“What the hell …” One of them started to talk, but fell silent when he re-discovered the incredible, unsettling beauty of the deadly stranger.

“Hello there, boys. This is your lucky day.”

Taking off her clothes Susan stood there completely naked, her display having obvious effects on the real estate nerds.

“Come on then. I’ve got a lot of shopping to do today, and it’s nearly lunch time.” Tearing the first guys hundred dollar leather belt as though it was made of paper she ripped his pants off and looked appraisingly at his package.

“You’re a bit on the small side, aren’t you Shorty?”

He just kept looking at her, and Susan took pity on him.

“Aren’t you going to fuck me?” she asked, running hand down between her legs while massaging a breast with the other. They just watched, so Susan decided to get them moving. Turning around she showed them her sensational flexibility, and the all important part of her body that begged for attention.

The man she’d half stripped moved in, placing his hands on her ass as he jabbed roughly into her. He was not violent man at all, but he seemed to be making love with the intention of inflicting pain. All he did was give Susan the best orgasm of her life, shortly after which she returned the favour.

Letting him fall to the floor with a dreamy look on his face, Susan turned her attention to the other guy. He was masturbating as he watched his partners display, and was keen to have his own go. He tried to push her down to the ground, but found himself unable to budge her. A dainty hand rose to his shoulder and forced him to his knees.

“I think you know what to do.”

He did. But what impressed Susan most of all that he knew how. With learned experience the humble salesman had her hypersensitive body flowing through a series of deep orgasms. He got tired and moved away after a while, but Susan wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to feel more of this guys quick tongue, but in her eagerness she broke his jaw.

“Oh well. I wonder if your friend knows how to that.” Susan took the injured agent back to his desk and left him there to recover for minute while the other guy was torn from his slumber to find her pubic hair tickling his nostrils. “I think you owe me. Get to work.”

“And as for you. Start writing up the paperwork on that house. I’m moving in today.”

“But that house belongs to …”

“Me.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Mmmm, your partner’s almost as good as you were.” She smiled at him. “You sound funny, mate, with a broken jaw.” Moving with the tongue inside her, Susan looked menacingly at the seated agent. “I’m getting a mental image of squished grapes right now.”

“Please! I can’t give you that house. That isn’t how it works. Money … the owners …”

“Oh wake up!” Susan snapped. “I already know who owns the place, and I’m going there later to settle up. I just don’t want to come back here.”

She let the kneeling man go, he wasn’t doing anything mush for her anyway, and stood there waiting.

“I’ll count to three, and then I’ll start being really persuasive.”

The half naked fella tried running out, but his escape was thwarted by a Susan’s forearm. He got back up from the coat-hanger blow, but Susan was right there, and took his hands before he could pull them away.

“If your partner doesn’t start writing, you’re going to die,” she told him, very slowly closing her grip on his comparatively frail hands. There was a sickening crunch as the bones disintegrated and Susan rubbed the pieces about under the unbroken skin. The poor man was screaming horribly, and his partner started writing.

Soon after that Susan held in her hand a legal document that made the beach house hers. All it needed now was the current owners signature and Susan could relax about someone taking the house away if she became normal again. But the only way Susan would become normal would be if she took off the ring, and that just wasn’t going to happen.

“That’s excellent, but guess what? I’ve still got to kill you assholes.” They backed away in terror as Susan approached. For dramatic effect she allowed the strength in her body to puff her muscles up, and picked up the massive desk that the senior partner took such pride in. The drawers fell open and dumped to the floor, everything that been on top of the desk slid off and Susan had the desk high overhead completely under control. Letting them know that she was only using a little bit of her physical strength Susan pulled a hand down and made a muscle, watching the expressions of both men. Their eyes were wide, and the sweat that poured down their faces made it look as though they were crying.

“Catch!”

Susan tossed the desk at the two cowering fools, the antique oak making a smear of its owners and exploding against the old sandstone wall.

Getting the address and information about the owner, Susan set off to find the place. Once outside the office, she hailed a taxi and told the driver the address of her dream home.

“You got any money, gorgeous?” the gay driver rudely asked.

“Who needs money when your me?”

“Huh?”

“I’m an expert negotiator. Let me show you.” The bulletproof divider might as well have been candy glass for all the trouble it gave Susan. A quick thump and it was pulverised. Fragments flew everywhere, cutting the driver in a dozen places but glancing harmlessly off Susan’s impenetrable skin. Leaning her hand on his leg, she massaged him. If she hadn’t have been doing with over a thousand pounds of pressure might not have minded too much. Even though he was gay and experiencing he most pain he’d ever felt, the endangered taxi driver suddenly had an erection over this strange woman.

Noting the sweat begin to pour down his face almost instantly, Susan was careful not to get carried away.

“Go on then. Drive and I’ll stop. How’s that for a good deal?”

He did just as he was told the rest of the way there, so Susan thanked him and got out without bending his taxi up. At least, not much … but she doubted anyone would notice her finger marks on the door.

“By the way, if you tell anyone about this, I’ll come around and feed you this taxi. Have a nice day now!”

He drove off to nurse to his badly bruised leg while Susan found the house just perfect. Being careful not make craters on her lawn she leapt the fence and made several loops of the place. The door was locked, but stopping in front of it all she had to do was knock. Tapping once on the hardwood resulted in her hand going right through.

“Looks like I’m up for a new door. Why didn’t I get the keys?”

Moving her arm about to demolish the remnants of the ruined door, the new owner of a prime beachfront mansion moved in to inspect the place. It was huge, and the lack of furniture made it seem even more massive. Large open living areas were found in several places, a triple garage with a shower and dunny. Ten bedrooms. And the biggest one was up two flights of stairs.

Now she needed furniture.

Chapter 6

There was no doubt now. Watching from across the void the Council of Twelve decided that such a drastic error by their agent had to be rectified. The question that plagued them was how. Looking upon Susan’s abuse of the ring several of the old sages began to sweat with fear,

“If we don’t do something soon it will be too late.”

“She already knows how to draw on the power, by the time we send our people she my realise her potential.”

There was a chorus of shouts as the council lost decorum for the first time in its history.

“I knew it was too soon.”

“Shut up, Ein. There is only one hope. Another ring-bearer must be found.”

“But that’s impossible.”

“You know as well as I do that nothings impossible for a ring-bearer. And I just happen to know how to contact one.”

Returning to her old house Susan found Mark right where she’d left him.

Moulding herself into a breathtaking shape as he watched her muscles streamline themselves, she released him from the steel.

“You can go now Mark. This isn’t my house anymore. There’s a few dead people about and they’ll only start to stink soon. I don’t want you anymore, Mark, but I’ll call in from time to time. Now, why don’t you run along and tell your mommy what I did?

“What happened to you?”

“This thingy,” she told him, tapping a finger on the odd coloured ring. “It’s just ridiculous the shit I can do now, you two-timing fool. You have no idea how good it is to be me.”

“You’re a monster. Don’t you have any humanity! You ripped her arms off.”

She smiled at him. “I was angry, Mark, and I’m getting angry right now. Why don’t you leave before I start tearing your arms off? Now I think about, maybe I should …”

Mark looked at the woman who had shared his bed for the last few years, and saw a very different person. The power of her body was clear, and he had seen it used. He bolted out the door and made his way toward the street so fast he tripped over his own feet twice.

“Now to get rid of the evidence,” Susan mused, having decided to tear down her house. The rent here was just unbelievable, and the reluctance of the landlord to keep up maintenance had seen many uncomfortable days. Letting the pent-up anger of three years out she started smashing her way through walls. The old hardwood panels splintered like rotten balsa beneath her potent blows, bringing a smile to her face. Looking over her old things, she realised that she didn’t want any of it. Only the best for Susan from now on. Getting her legs involved the demolition was accelerated as each impact of her foot crumbled walls to sawdust.

Jumping up, Susan launched into and through the ceiling, her head poking through the tiles before gravity brought her back down. With dexterity Olympic gymnasts only dream about, Susan leapt through the interior of the house doing somersaults and back flips. Landing the middle of the husk, she stamped her foot to shake the ground with force enough to tumble the unsupported outer walls. The remained of the roof came down on her, but she just crossed her arms and jumped up through it all.

Standing on top of the pile, she spotted a petrol tanker going up the highway, and got an idea.

Another two hours and Henry would finally get to unload. He’d been doing this for so many years now they were starting to call Gramps … which soon became Grumps when he told them exactly how he felt. They were trying to show him respect, which was fine with Henry, but letting him know he was old was no way to do that.

As he turned a bend in the road the truck shuddered. Henry kept firm control the wheel. Then there was a rending sound, and Henry noticed movement in his mirror. He couldn’t investigate further because the truck suddenly lurched to the right, then to the left, then the back jumped up and Henry found himself using everything he had to regain control. Thanks to his experience he stopped the cab and started his heart up again. Looking over his shoulder he saw that his trailer had come off.

Jumping out, with shaking hands Henry examined the damage. Somehow the trailer had been torn away, but it was like nothing he’d seen before. Henry couldn’t work out how it could possibly happen. The next thing on his mind was finding the trailer, but Charlie wouldn’t see it again until he got home and watched the news.

Dragging the trailer along behind her, Susan was a little annoyed that the tyres wouldn’t turn. When she’d broken the brake cable they’d locked up instead of letting off. It hardly slowed her down though, and she was still able to hold it up with one hand and pull it along without straining herself at all. Arriving at the tumbled ruin of her house, she manoeuvred the trailer into the centre of it and pushed her fingers into the bottom of the tank.

Tearing the hole wider she got the petrol gushing before she realised that she had no lighter.

Remembering how heavily Mark’s friends had smoked cigarettes, she turned her attention to the cars parked in her driveway. Though she was careful, Susan’s finger still distorted the door dramatically as opened. Right there on the dash was the lighter she need to finish the task at hand. Wandering over to the pile of rubble she picked up a magazine. Planning to light it and throw it on from a safe distance, Susan flicked the lighter under a corner of the glossy paper.

She had been standing way too close, the fumes of the spilt fuel all around her. The spark from the lighter set off a spectacular explosion that shattered windows up and down the street and started her bonfire with a bigger bang than she had planned. The force of the blast washed over her, followed by the intense heat. Thinking for a moment she was in danger, Susan moved to get out of the fire. But there was no pain … no searing of her flesh. In fact, it felt good. The flames licked her, turning her clothes into black ruins but leaving her flesh unmarked. She moved into the heart of it all and stood in the flame that looked the hottest, the dancing fire unable to singe her hair. Opening her eyes when she heard approaching sirens, Susan walked from the intense heat and realised she was naked. She started to jog leisurely toward the nearest clothes store.

Ignoring the stares of everyone she passed, she entered a shop and sought out an outfit. Picking the clothes off the racks and dressing herself, she drew the attention of the sales assistant.

“Can I help you?”

“No thanks, I found what I want.” Susan ripped off the tags and gave them to the inquisitive lady. She went toward the door, completely ignoring the woman who grabbed her arm and almost fell over trying to stop her.

“Where are you going? Stop!”

“Get off you silly bitch,” Susan ordered, crushing the woman’s shoulder and sending her flying into a wall in a single motion. Walking straight through the glass beside the door, Susan wandered onto the road and hailed a taxi.

“Take me somewhere they sell good furniture.”

Unknown to Susan, the message of the Twelve had been received. If not for the message Tyrin would not have known how to use a black hole. As Susan stepped onto the curb beside a classy uptown furniture retailer, another ring-bearer came blasting through a black-hole in the depths of space. The powerful man swept his mind across the universe and found Susan in an instant. Though the message had asked him to contact the Council of the Twelve, he felt no need.

There was no reward they could offer, no help that he needed. For he knew exactly what was going on. Tyrin had waited for a chance like this for centuries … to become even more powerful.

Tyrin knew that if he could get hold of a second ring, he would become so powerful that he could wrest a third from another. And after that, his power would grow exponentially as he roamed through the endlessness of all dimensions gathering all the rings until he could melt them down to make a helmet. The helmet would give him the power to take on the creator and win, and then he would control everything that lived. He would be everything.

The Earth filled his vision. A fitting place for the birth of a god, he mused as pondered the path he took. He could sense the ring, and soon he would have it and become unstoppable.

Susan was amazed at the variety of furniture available here. Antique stuff filled one corner, modern artsy-fartsy bullshit another. She was pondering which shade of leather for her lounge suit when something made the ground shake.

Looking outside, her enhanced eyes instantly saw the ring. The man wearing it was inconsequential for the first few seconds, as though the strange metal hovered in a cloud. Fear struck her as she realised her ring was not the only one.

“Come out!”

The wave of force that Tyrin sent into the store shattered every window and drove people and furniture into the back wall. Susan stood alone in the cleared store, and sent her mind to attack his.

“No you don’t!”

He was blocking her. This guy knew what he was doing, she realised. She had to think fast.

Tyrin did know what he was doing, and Susan had very little time to think. He grasped her with his mind, and tried to crush her. But Susan was invulnerable, and there was nothing he could do to kill her. So he had to do something else.

Flying up, he took her with him.

Susan looked at him with wide as eyes as her captor flew along. How could he do that? “Maybe I can fly …” she mused, but before she considered how it was possible she found herself released from his mental grip. Without support she plummeted toward the suburbs, and crashed though the road. The impact knocked her out cold.

Tyrin took her to an island far away from her home, and there he tried fulfil his destiny.

“For someone who could be so powerful, you’re awfully weak,” he told her, attempting to pry the ring from her finger. He tried for a few minutes, at the last so roughly that she woke up.

“Hey!”

“Give me that ring.”

“Bullshit, bucko. You’ve already got one, so you don’t …”

He dropped her and stepped away. Susan looked up at him, noting that his feet only had four toes and skin was an odd colour.

“You will give me that ring. It will be mine.”

“Who are you?”

“I am from a place you will never see, girl. Tell me something, does your species understand pain?”

He held his hand out, and a beam of light shot forth. As it engulfed Susan, every nerve in body activated and she felt more pain than a normal person could handle. For the first moment she was sure that she would die, but as the seconds dragged on she discovered the biggest drawback of being immortal and started screaming. Tyrin lowered his hand and smiled.

“Take off the ring, and then you can die.”

He began, showing no sign of relenting. Susan realised with horror that his offer sounded tempting to her, but clenched the scream and turned her mind to finding a way out of this.

“You will live as long as that ring stays on your finger! Don’t suffer longer than you have to!”

His words didn’t reach her. Susan was thinking of a million things at once to drive the pain from her consciousness. She looked at him, her eyes widened by pain she tried so hard not feel, and realised he was just another man. A very evil man with only eight toes, he was male. Susan suddenly realised how to handle this, and drew on the ring once more.

Shaking his head, Tyrin started to talk in pleading tones to her.

“I hate to do this, I really do. When I have that ring, the whole universe will benefit.”

As he spoke, Susan could see her plan was going to work. The alien had small equipment, but she knew an erection when she caused one. Increasing the flow of energy into her body, she continued to the greatest sexual magnetism Tyrin had ever experienced. He had never seen another ring-bearer before in his long life, he did know that the power could be used in the way that Susan applied it. Just as she had no idea to do the things he was doing. He operated on a high-level, but Susan aimed right at his primal urges and took away his ability to think rationally. A scent reached his nostrils that he had never breathed before, and his mind wandered. But he kept the beam on her.

The scent grew stronger until Tyrin could hardly breath, never had a woman aroused him so much. The sensations only amplified as time progressed, and his hand lowered to his crotch.

Released from the pain, Susan allowed her mind to fully awaken again.

“Look at you,” she purred, her body having recovered instantly from his assault. “Come on,” she bit her lip. “Let’s do it!”

It was the worst line she’d ever used, but it worked marvellously on the strange man. Susan was relieved as he dove on her and began a furious love-making that almost hurt. She tentatively reached out with her mind, and discovered his was in total disarray. He was fully focused on her body, and that allowed her into his mind. He was a fountain of knowledge, but Susan didn’t know enough to gain everything from him.

“You’re so strong,” she whispered, unsure if he knew what she was up to or not. She went on regardless, gaining his knowledge on flight before looking for way to kill him. But he was like her, and that meant she had to get his ring off.

“Stop!” she ordered, pushing him away and closing her legs.

“But …”

“How can I love a man I don’t trust?”

She was still in his head, and certain now that he was unaware of it.

He tried to rape her, but found it impossible to open her legs. “Let me have you!”

“Prove I can trust you! Take off the ring.”

She felt his mind returning, and struggled to keep him confused. She bombarded him with images of his fingers on the ring, the metal band sliding over the knuckles and before the befuddled wannabe god realised he was committing suicide he had fallen for her simple ploy.

Snatching the ring away from him, she stepped back to watch as he became a normal being again after centuries of bearing the awesome power to control a universe. He retained the physical powers he had infused into his body, but his mind was now completely defenceless to her ensuing assault.

The pain on his face was added reward as Susan ruthlessly tore knowledge from him. She learned only small amount of what she could before he died.

“You deserved greater pain,” she told him, regretting that she had ended his life so quickly. “But thanks for the info.”

Her short time of freedom was spent answering the obvious questions. She learned of the twelve councillors who had wanted her killed … and of the black holes that allowed passage to other universes. Just as important, she learned how to project energy in waves. Not only could she use this knowledge to fly, but she could do things like what he did to her. Only, she wasn’t sure what kind of energy he had been using. She didn’t, however, know to look any deeper to discover his darker motivations.

Smiling, Susan hovered into the air and stretched. Examining the ring that Tyrin had worn, she slipped it on her finger.

Chapter 7

With two rings now, Susan hovered above the small island and wondered where she was. Cautiously rising it occurred to her that she had no idea where Tyrin had taken her. She went higher and higher, and found she was on an island chain. Thousands tiny islands dotted the ocean beneath, stretching out in a long line.

“This must be Indonesia,” she decided, and followed the islands looking for evidence to back up her assumption.

A feeling of euphoria overcame her as she flew unaided through the high reaches, projecting energy to rocket along faster than any human had travelled before. The air and gravity worked against her, but with delight she conquered both. The atmosphere behind her started to glow as she accelerated faster, going down low to skim her hand through the ocean. Rising to clear a mountainous island she looked back as the shock-wave of her passage knocked over every tree and bush under her flight path.

“I better not go this fast in the city,” she decided. A large village, the buildings mere specks on the horizon, made her back off and slow down. She maintained Mach three, and landed awkwardly on the road outside town. The friction of high-speed had burnt her clothes away, but fortunately this town had a good marketplace. Closing her eyes and projecting her mind she explored every inch of the place to find clothes. Using her new knowledge, she created a small localised whirlwind that picked out a few of the more appealing garments and carried them several kilometres to her waiting hand. Amazed by how easily she applied her new knowledge, Susan walked into the foreign town without any fear.

There were only a few tourists here, and only one that was speaking English.

Susan’s ears picked his words from the buzz of the market and her eyes followed the sound to a chubby guy trying to buy a whole stack of knock-off DVD’s from a villager. Tapping him softly on the shoulder, he made him turn and look at her.

His eyes were drawn over the long lines of her body, and Susan heard his heartbeat accelerate to dangerous levels.

“Can you tell me where we are?” she asked him. “I’m lost.”

“We’re …” his brain fumbled for information.

“Come on, then. Out with it.”

“You’re here,” his dreamy voice told her.

“Great to know that.” Getting a little tired of this, Susan placed a hand under his chin and hoisted him into the air. “Where’s here?”

She took the thoughts from his head before the answer crossed his lips, then the overweight tourist found himself dropped roughly into the dirt. Certain now of her location, Susan leapt straight up into the air and joyously engaged her newly acquired ability to fly. Crossing over the coast of Western Australia she soon found herself engulfed in the darkness of the night. The drop in temperature over the desert didn’t bother her bit; she just kept heading east with the landscape blurred by her tremendous speed. Crossing the continent in less than three minutes, Susan slowed down as she passed over the ocean, and headed south along the coast. The lights of Sydney came over the horizon, and as she drew closer her eyes picked out her house. Landing on the lawn of her property, she wandered inside through the shattered door.

Even after such a long day, Susan didn’t feel remotely tired. Looking at her empty house she remembered that the previous owner was still unaware that the house didn’t belong to them anymore. Deciding that it was time to deal with that, she grabbed the document those real estate guys had drawn up for her, and headed to another clothes shop to cover he naked flesh.

She would cheat no more taxi drivers of their fares. She needed no help getting to George Street now that she could lift up her feet and fly. Hovering above a sporty shop so no-one could see her naked, Susan picked clothes from the racks and made them fly up to her, breaking windows but no bones.

Careful not to damage her latest outfit, Susan flew slowly over toward Parramatta and the home of Frank Hearl. He was manager of the bank that had foreclosed on the beach house two months ago and evicted the unfortunate occupants. Touching down gently right in front of the door Susan pushed the buzzer, accidentally demolishing the plastic box in a flurry of sparks.

The door swung open moments later, and Susan smiled at Mrs. Hearl. Frank’s wife looked Susan up and down in disgust, unimpressed by her skimpy clothes.

“I don’t believe I know you. What do you want?”

Susan stepped forward and pushed the older woman aside. “Where’s Frank?”

“Hey! Who do you think you are?”

“Don’t you worry. Just tell me where your husband is.”

Frank made himself evident, walking into the hall.

“What is this?”

“Hello there. I just wanted tell you that the beach house is off the market.”

“Frank, who is this hussy?”

“Hussy?” Susan raised an eyebrow and backhanded the woman so hard that Frank was an instant widower. Moving faster than his eyes could follow, Susan got in Frank’s face. “You have no idea how much I hate people like your wife. Now then. I am the new owner of that beach house.” Showing him the legal papers, she held up a hand and a pen flew over from beside the phone and landed in her grip. “Just sign this.”

“What did you do to my wife?” he demanded, moving to examine the crumpled form of the dead woman. Susan nudged him roughly to the floor and stood over him.

Dropping the papers and the pen on his chest, she picked up the corpse in her left hand and dangled it by the neck.

“She’s dead, Frank.” Squeezing her hand closed, she popped the deceased woman’s shattered head off and tossed the body down the hall. “And you will be too. If you don’t sign that.”

“But it’s worth half a million dollars!”

“I can’t believe you, Frank. Your wife’s dead and your babbling on about money. Your signature or your life … your choice, buddy.” To let him feel her strength, Susan crouched next to him, and popped his kneecap with her fingers.

“Don’t be a fool.”

He signed a moment later, as Susan ran her hands over his shoulders. As soon as the paper was complete, she released him and took the document.

“Thank you. Bye now.”

Stepping outside, Susan hovered out over the lawn and turned around. Smiling she held out her hand and a blast of heat shot out to engulf Frank’s house in a ball of blue flame. Impressed with herself, she broke off the heat beam and watched the bricks burn. The house crumbled, burning brightly against the night. People came from the houses up and down the street to see what was happening. Those who saw Susan hovering there twenty feet over the street stopped in their tracks with their mouths wide. Waving at them, she did a backflip and disappeared into the darkness.

Weaving through the night sky Susan decided that it would be easier to get her furniture if she had money. She sought out the five-storey headquarters of the United Leagues Banking Corporation. They had taken her car away a few years ago, so she decided that they owed her.

The city looked very different from above the rooftops, and getting around was so much easier that Susan wondered how she had ever managed before. Entering a graceful hover above the west side of the building she sought, Susan considered the best way in. Noticing the windows were connected to alarms, Susan chose the wall as her entrance. Remembering what Tyrin had done at the furniture shop earlier, Susan held out her hand and blasted a hole through the wall. Floating in, she made her way to an elevator and pushed her way through the steel door and into the shaft. The elevator was below her, so she gripped the cable with both hands and snapped the coiled steel.

The elevator fell a few floors before the safety brakes stopped it. Not caring if anyone was in it or not, Susan dove head long down the shaft with her fists out front, and smashed her way through the lift. Assuming the safe would be down in the basement Susan landed lightly at the bottom of the shaft and pushed the door open. The door to the vault was behind several bars, and Susan was dismayed to see two guards. Waving her hand she destroyed the rotating security camera and stepped forward. The guards stared in disbelief for moment, but when Susan made a gap in the inch-thick bars with her soft looking hands, they went for their guns.

The first bullet hit her in the breast, making her smile. They came fast after that, bouncing off her body as the two men unloaded their weapons into her.

“Nice try, fellas.” Walking toward them she used her mind to part the second barrier. With one hand on her hip she held the other one up. As it rose the two guards found themselves lifted bodily from the ground by a crushing unseen force. Smiling at them, Susan made them spin as she experimented with her powers. Then she closed her hands and watched them implode. Releasing the remains they slopped to the floor and pooled there. Lifting both feet from the steel floor before the spreading goo reached her toes, she turned her attention to the vault door.

Her first impulse was to blast it with heat and melt it, but thought better of that idea. The money would get damaged if she tried that. Instead, she looked at the door and concentrated real on hard. After a moment the steel door of the vault started to groan, and the smooth flat surface began to distort. The noise of bending steel grew louder as Susan lifted her hands and drew more power. The shuddering door continued to bend until it had opened enough for her to enter. Walking through the generous hole she found the horde of cash she had been expecting. Only taking from hundred dollar bills she started stuffing the loot into cash bags, but decided on an easier method. Holding the bag she had been filling out in front of her, she let it go but it didn’t drop. Susan held it there with her eyes. Looking around the room she levitated the money and formed it into a ball in the middle of the room. Flying back out of the bank with her ball of money in tow she went back home and put the money in her bedroom.

It was too late now for Susan to go shopping for furniture. That would have to wait. She sat on a cushion air and thought about her new abilities.

Rubbing the new ring she got to thinking about Tyrin, the memory of that pain making her shudder. The Council of the Twelve had made a mistake in contacting him, because if they hadn’t done that then Susan would never have known about them. Now she knew they wanted her dead, and were probably calling for another ring-bearer. That had to change. Susan was enjoying herself too much, and didn’t want to give back the ring. Deciding that she would deal with them first thing tomorrow, she remained on a cushion of air and slept more peacefully than she had in years.

Chapter 8

The Mayor was the kind of man who never entered a situation without knowing all the facts. The first reports had been scoffed at, but the damage down Woomera Drive could not be so easily dismissed. Then a report of a gruesome death at a real estate agent and now his aide was telling him it was connected to the murder of two police officers at Grace’s fashion store. He feared a terrorist organisation the likes never seen in this country were at work, but this report by his best man proposed something much more frightening.

“You can’t expect me to believe all this was done by a lone woman.” Puffing a cigarette, he glanced over the report once more. “This is bullshit, Tony.”

“We have a video I think you should see.”

Putting the security tape from the United Leagues headquarters, Tony pushed play and flicked the big-screen television on. The five-foot screen was filled by a black and white image of a hallway.

“This is a copy the police have made in slow motion.”

The hall remained peaceful.

“Tony, this better be …”

The Mayor’s eyes were drawn back to the screen as the wall of the hallway exploded and chunks of sandstone flew in all directions. As the dust settled, a figure entered through the hole. Hovering just above the floor, the robber floated leisurely down the hallway and around the corner. The scene changed to inside an elevator. Tony and the Mayor exchanged glances. When their attention returned to the screen they watched in extreme slow motion as a projectile smashed through the roof, and went through the floor. This footage repeated itself even slower, and the Mayor’s mouth dropped open as he realised the projectile was the same person who had floated down the hallway.

“What is this?”

“There’s more Mister Mayor. We know where she is.”

The street outside Susan’s beachfront dream home was crowded with police cars before the sun was up. Over thirty officers were present, and they had been told that the men who bombed George Street were in this house. While Susan slept they surrounded her home and covered all the exits.

A hand picked group of eight men entered through the front door, their weapons at the ready. Four men proceeded upstairs while the others silently checked the ground floor. The house was empty of everything, including the furniture, and the process of checking each room was fast. None of them expected to find what they saw in upstairs bedroom.

Waving his arm underneath her, the first man in looked back to his buddy in confusion.

“Maybe we better call the drug-squad.”

“Shut up, Harvey. Get her down.”

Harvey grabbed an arm, and pulled the floating woman to the floor.

“Hello! Miss?”

Susan’s eyes opened to the sight of a gun barrel. Coming out of her deep sleep in an instant, she regarded the uniform of the man holding it.

“You’re under arrest, lady.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

The cop stepped back.

“Stand up.”

With a smile, Susan floated to her feet and stretched her supercharged body.

“What am I under arrest for?”

“That money for a start,” one of them told her. He was trying to put the image of her floating to her feet out of his mind, was but was having difficulty.

“That’s my money. I won the lottery.”

“Oh?”

“Twice.” Susan showed them the two rings. “You have no idea what one of these can do for me.”

“You better come with us.”

He took her arm, but she was immovable. One of his friends came to his aide but Susan was rooted to the spot.

“How did you find me?” she asked, ignoring their efforts to move her.

“We’re just the gofers. Now come on.”

Susan shook her head. “I’m going to have you for breakfast, little man.” Moving her hand to his chest, she took a handful of his vest and lifted him up. His men started hitting her, but only broke their hands with the effort.

The wounded men didn’t feel their pain long before they were obliterated one at a time by Susan’s awkward left jab. Not wanting blood all through her new house, she moved downstairs and outside.

“Put him down!”

She’d never seen so many police cars in one place, and it made her proud to know that a hundred times as many wouldn’t scare her now.

“Who? This guy?” Susan threw the officer she was carrying at the man with the megaphone, killing both of them and wounding two others. Now that there were no police in the target zone, the other officers opened fire.

Susan put her hands on her hips and watched the hail of bullets ricochet away from her subtly buff body. Only when she realised that her house was getting damaged did Susan respond. With a wave her hand the incoming bullets stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground. The cops kept shooting, so Susan closed her eyes and levitated the guns roughly from their hands. Looking up at the floating guns with amusement, she clicked her fingers and destroyed them.

“How about some hand to hand?” she suggested, flying over the barricade of cars to land among the coppers. For the next minute she performed a series of hits kicks and punches that caved in heads and demolished chests. Some of them ran, others got in their cars; all of them were desperate now to escape.

Leaving the ground the super-powerful woman started flying about decapitating those on foot before pursuing the vehicles. Flying up behind the first one she accelerated through the rear window and pushed the occupants head through the dashboard on her way through the windshield.

Going up she picked out the last three, all of them going in different direction. Choosing one at random she swept down between trees and came up beside it. Waving at them through the glass, she went low and grasped the sill in a distorting grip. Going much faster than the car was built to go she took them into the side of a building. A second later she blasted through the other side of the brick house and arced up to select the second sedan.

They were weaving though the backstreets in an attempt to buy time. Spotting the other car not too far away Susan got an idea. Reaching out her hands at the cars far below, she took them under her control. The drivers tried frantically to steer but the front tyres no longer influenced the cars direction in the slightest. Bringing them together with enough force to reduce both vehicles to small pieces, Susan returned home. A hundred feet over the disaster area on the street in front of the house she looked down in dismay.

Using hand gestures to help herself focus, Susan gathered all the crumpled bodies and sent them flying out over the ocean to land beyond the continental shelf. Landing next a cop car, Susan decided to have some exercise. Putting a hand on the roof, she pushed down and broke all the windows. Getting a hand under it, she lifted it up and held it at arms length. Taking a hand away she balanced it there a moment before turning toward the ocean and hurling the car far out to sea.

Darting up into the sky so she could see the impact, Susan was amazed how far she could throw. Landing between another two squad cars she lifted them both up, and smashed them together over head so hard they became one. Throwing this one harder, she flew along and chased it down into the ocean.

“I can’t believe how strong I am!” she told herself, making her way back to throw more cars. It felt wonderful to cut loose with her strength; the steel that crumpled under her grasp was a glorious reminder to Susan of her new status. This exercise was a great way to start the day, and she decided that she should do it every morning.

Once the cars were all gone she took off from her lawn and went toward the sky. Checking the memory she had taken from Tyrin of the message he had received, Susan climbed until the sky went pale and stars revealed themselves.

Feeling no lack of breath and remembering her extended journey under the water, Susan confidently proceeded into the outer reaches of the atmosphere and hovered in orbit for a moment. Looking around she was awed by the beauty of Earth below her, and stunned by the depths of the Milky Way before her.

Improving her eyes to a level Tyrin had never experienced, Susan took in the depths of the universe. There seemed to be no end of it. A million supernovas went off and thousands of other celestial events took place before her.

Looking for the star system described in Council’s message, her incredibly enhanced eyes soon found it.

“There you are. I wonder if you know I’m coming?”

Tony looked at the Mayor in dismay.

“If we call them in, we’re saying you can’t handle this.”

“Tony … That is exactly what’s happening. We can’t handle this! This is not natural. Now call the fucking army!”

Unaware of the plans forming against her in Sydney, Susan was halfway to Mars.

The extreme environment of space felt comfortable to her body. Her clothes didn’t handle it well though, and she was naked again just moments after leaving the Earth’s atmosphere. Sick of forever needing new clothes, Susan made finding an outfit tough enough to last her first priority when she got back.

Even though she was travelling at tremendous speed, the vast distances between her and objects around made her feel as if she was going at a snails pace.

Mars wasn’t far away now, but it grew at a very boring rate. Drawing on the power of both rings she accelerated and burst past Mars at more than the speed of light. Her eyes took away the blurring as Susan continued to accelerate and pulled out of the solar system to look back as the planets rotating around the sun shrank into tiny dots.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

Allowing herself to become distracted, Susan started forming a picture of the Milky-Way in her head. A telescope as powerful as her eyes would need a lens the size of Jupiter. Remembering her goal, Susan sought out the solar system where she would find the men who wanted her dead. Getting her bearings from the stars around her, Susan found the Council of the Twelve. Aiming that way she poured on the juice and travelled the millions of light years in less than a minute.

The system where the council resided had seven planets rotating a beautiful yellow sun. Slowing down and flying close by each planet in turn, Susan found five of them were almost completely covered in cities. Populating the cities were people just the same those on Earth, a fact which Susan found enlightening. Probing one of the humanoids with her mind she found that the creatures thought in a language similar to Chinese. The alien man dropped to his knees as Susan brought her mental might to bear on his brain, her mind sifting every cell in his head for knowledge. He was just a low-level member of society, but he was well spoken and Susan was grateful for that. Armed with an understanding of the language, she turned her attention to a woman and got in-depth information about the culture. All she really wanted to know was where to find the council. The next alien whose mind she overwhelmed divulged the needed information, and Susan darted to the other side of the system and entered the atmosphere of the fourth world with a stream of burning air behind her. The friction of her incredible velocity felt wonderful on her skin, and she maintained the extreme speed all the way to the tower where the council sat discussing their plans for her.