An Interest in Chuck

Written by Dru1076 :: [Sunday, 11 June 2017 22:33] Last updated by :: [Sunday, 02 July 2017 11:29]

An Interest in Chuck

By Dru

The excitement in town was palpable. Every single person seemed to be completely absorbed with the coming visit, and for days leading up it the entire population had devoted themselves wholly to the preparation. Gardens and lawns throughout the town were in pristine condition, and streets completely free of any litter. Every window was brilliantly clean and every surface inside and out sparkled with fresh attention. Everybody contributed all they physically could and more. Everybody except Charlie.

Charlie just didn’t get it.The whole thing, ever since today’s visitor had first appeared on the world stage just two weeks ago, seemed utterly insane. As he sat on the porch of his backstreet house and drank his morning coffee he tried once more to run through it all in his mind in an attempt to make some sense of it all. But as he watched his neighbour meticulously weeding the garden he had meticulously weeded as the sun had set just the previous day, he was once again at a loss. He knew for a fact that his neighbour hated gardening. Looking at his own yard Charlie admired the manicured lawn and perfectly aligned roses and felt a little grateful for the insanity. When people had realised he wasn’t going to do anything special in preparation for the big day they had shown up out of the blue and twenty people he didn’t like (largely because they didn’t like him) or didn’t even know got down on their hands and knees and turned his neglected yard into a perfected landscape.

He had been at the coffee shop that morning two weeks ago when everybody had received the phone call. A short video message from the never before heard of Empress Irene introducing herself to the world. Not having a cell phone, Charlie had to lean over and look down at his mate Marvin’s oversized touch screen. Even looking rather bored, the girl on the screen was certainly very pretty. She had the glowing sheen of a complexion untroubled by acne and ignorant of age and a simple country-girl hairstyle pulled up into a neat ponytail. Certainly pretty … but certainly not pretty enough to justify the gasps of awe that everyone seemed to express as one. He had seen prettier girls here in town.

“I am Irene,” she had said. “And I’ve decided to let myself rule the world now. That makes you very happy, doesn’t it?” Quite a few people actually shed tears of joy it made them so happy, Charlie recalled with a chuckle. “I’ll be on TV tonight, and you will all watch.”

Charlie hadn’t watched. He hadn’t watched because by the time he got home he was completely fatigued by the insane way people all over town had broken out into celebration the moment the video message had ended. He was well and truly over this Irene girl, and didn’t find out until he saw the news the next morning that the 22 year old Irene was now Empress Irene of Earth, and that all nations had agreed eagerly to accept this crazy notion. There was even a new global flag, which he had spotted flying over the town square and in front of town hall. It mustn’t have been cheap for her to have one made for every town, city and suburb. It was a simple design, with one expensive looking flourish in the form of an aura surrounding the central figure of a woman. She was placed on a black disc with a pure white background. If not for the aura, which somehow appeared to be every-coloured somehow, Charlie wouldn’t have looked at it twice. He was perplexed by how the designer had pulled off true technical wizardry by giving the aura the illusion of an actual glow and yet the flag was otherwise very boring.

The strangest thing to Charlie was the lack of any other news that morning. But even though all networks were running the story live with no ads, Charlie quickly realised that nobody actually knew anything about this Empress Irene or where indeed she had come from. The coverage was simply a gushing spout of B.S. splattering wonderful praise for the fact that Irene had decided to become the ruler of all humanity all over the world.

Charlie could not believe that CBS, NBC, and even Fox lacked any comments on how silly the whole thing was. It was like an April fools joke that the entire world had decided to run with just to mess with Charlie’s head.

And then, halfway through an interview he hadn’t been watching a few days later, Empress Irene had announced she would be visiting Charlie’s small hometown as soon as she had finished her round-the-world tour meeting world leaders. And that’ when things got really odd in Hapsburg, Tennessee. That’s when everyone he knew … every single person in town … lost their minds and started beautifying a town hardly any of them really gave a shot about before that moment. It was as if someone had offered them a billion dollars to clean up the town. Charlie saw no sense in it at all. If she was coming here to see a pretty town, then she (and they) were wasting their time. Even dressed up the town was well past its prime and nobody had disagreed about that before.

“Hey Charlie! The town’s gathering in the square! Didn’t nobody tell you?”

Charlie looked up to the old fella from down the road walking past as though he was headed somewhere vitally important.

“What the hell you headed down there for?”

“Charlie! How can you not know that the Great and Powerful and Wonderful Empress Irene is coming today? We’re gonna meet her in the square!”

Charlie tried his best not laugh. People got real angry whenever he pointed out how silly they were being. “I’ll be down in a few.”

The old man stopped cold. “You’re lying. You got no intention. Just like you had no intention fixin’ up this shithole you call a house.”

“No need to be like that. It’s not like I didn’t let you and fifty other people I don’t like mess around in my yard for two days.”

“What the hell, Charlie? You act like you don’t even love her!”

“I don’t even know the damn girl. Either do any of you.”

“She’s Great and Powerful and Wonderful! Get off your ass and get down to the square goddammit!”

Charlie got to his feet. “Why don’t you let me be? You don’t even know what time she’s coming, for Christ’s sake. Tell you what … when I hear the trumpets and bagpipes I’ll make my way. ‘Til then … you can find me right here drinking coffee. Okay?”

“Don’t you ruin this day for us, Charlie! You son of a bitch!” With that, the crazy old fool went on his way and Charlie resumed his contemplation of insanity with a little new evidence to consider. The whole world was crazy except for him. Movement caught his eye and he saw several other people dressed in their best clothes walking toward the centre of town so he took his coffee and went inside to avoid repeating his last conversation several times.

Charlie would have been at work, busy with grease up to his elbows under a bonnet or down in the old school mechanics pit reaching up to work loose or examine a suspect part. He’d prefer that to just sitting on his ass, but the boss had shut the place for a few days so everybody could chip in getting the town ready. He wasn’t normally a reclusive person, but then the people in Hapsburg weren’t normally batshit crazy. If his wife had been alive, he wondered what short and sharp line of wisdom she would use today. But he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be on the Empress Irene Kool-Aid with everybody else. It was a dark notion that he deliberately steered away from.

 

***

 

He was getting into a DVD when the distant sounds of trumpets blared triumphantly in the distance, underscored by a cheer of every person in town. Charlie sighed, realising it probably meant that strange woman had arrived. Aware that every network he could name and many that he had never heard of had sent crews to broadcast the event he picked up the remote with some hesitation but found himself switching over to the Empress Irene Show on CBS. The local station was unable to transmit because everybody who worked there was down in the town square, and Charlie recognised a few of them.

It was as if the greatest band of all time was standing there. The entire crowd was in an uproar of adoration, and standing on the dais above them all with town councillors and officials behind her clapping energetically, was the Empress Irene. She was dressed in the same style as always, her expensive and elaborate dress allowing everyone to see clearly the cut of her panties and leaving no doubt she was not wearing a bra.

She was prettier this time. Charlie had no doubt she was even more appealing to the eye now than the last time he had seen footage of her. That was always the first thought he had, as though every day she grew somehow more radiant, more attractive. Her smile really was dazzling, her eyes really did sparkle with life. But what was it everybody else saw that made them speak of her the way they did? She wasn’t that much prettier than many other movie stars or supermodels … though she was indeed more beautiful than any of them … that Charlie felt a desire to devote his every waking moment to her.

“A brass band?” she demanded. “That’s really fucking lame, you know? How about they shut up now.” Instantly the band stopped, it’s members shrinking in horror. “That’s better. Now then … why are you all here?”

The small figure of the mayor stepped forward, clearly dismayed and passing glances over the crushed souls of the town band. “When you said you were coming here, we wanted to make you welcome.”

“Of course.”

“We … we tidied up the whole town and prepared this special welcoming event for you.”

“I hope you idiots don’t expect me to be grateful. Look at you lot … carrying on like cleaning up this smelly backwater was your idea.”

“But …”

“Aw … .don’t cry! I’m here aren’t I? And you do love me, don’t you?”

The mayor suddenly cried out in joy and knelt before her, prostrating himself at her feet. “We all love you, Great and Powerful and Wonderful Empress Irene!!”

“Did you have speeches? You don’t think I came here to listen to you waffle on do you? Because I’m not going to. Tell me why you think I’m here.”

“We thought … because you felt our love for you.”

“Oh … I do. And it is very nice. I can feel all the love you bear for me. I can feel the love from all over the world. But that’s not why I came, you silly limp-minded fool. I’m here because someone here doesn’t love me. Who is it? He’s not here is he?”

The name came from the Mayor so suddenly that Charlie moved forward in his seat with such a start he nearly fell off it.

“Charlie Ulray.”

Charlie was gobsmacked. He didn’t even know that the mayor knew his name. And … did she really just say … she was here for him? He was so stunned that he almost missed the fact the Mayor also gave her his address. Then she vanished from his television.

And then there was a knock on the door.

“I can see you in there, you know.”

It was her. Charlie was terrified.

“And even if I couldn’t see you though the wall, I can hear your breathing and heartbeat. And i can smell you. Don’t take that the wrong way … not that you smell great after all that whiskey last night … all guys smell. All girls too.” There was a pause through which Charlie remained frozen. “If you like this door, then you might want to unlock it and let me in. It won’t keep me out.”

Charlie rose and headed toward the door, but too slowly as it turned out. It didn’t burst open, but did it burst into sawdust so forcefully he was knocked back and raised his hand to protect his face. When he lowered it he saw that she had stepped onto the now dust caked carpet. He also saw that despite the glamorous dress she wasn’t wearing anything on her feet. But that detail was quickly blotted out by the simple and undeniable perfection of the young lady in front of him. HD television could not fully capture how ethereal her sexuality was, how truly flawless her skin was, and it certainly could not capture the intensity of her presence.

“Why didn’t you go down to meet me like everyone else?”

“I … my god you’re so beautiful!”

“I know that. You might say I’m super-beautiful. But that isn’t why you’re still here in the house, Charlie.”

With his mind trying to come to grips with Empress Irene’s brutally arousing appearance Charlie was incapable of lying. “Because I’m not crazy.”

“Crazy? You mean you’re not crazy for me?”

“Yeah. No … I … um …”

“You really do think I’m pretty … I can tell. Are you sure you’re not crazy for me?”

Charlie wasn’t sure. He had been. But now that she stood right there in front of him, he no longer doubted there was something very special about Empress Irene. She smiled, and the smile was so beautiful, devilish, and so sexy that Charlie ejaculated right there in his pants. Then he collapsed to his knees and stared blankly up at her. His mind seemed to clear a little as the release of sexual tension allowed him to think about the situation a little more clearly.

“What do you want with me?”

“I want to know why you don’t love me.”

With absolute honesty Charlie told her, “I think I do.”

“Oh … you lust for me. How the hell couldn’t you? I mean … check out this body, right? But that isn’t what I’m talking about. Everybody loves me, Charlie. And I do mean everybody. Everyone all over the world loves me with all their hearts. From old geezers in nursing homes to little babies. But not you. You don’t love me.” She really did look perplexed, and deep in thought, as she looked Charlie over carefully.

“I’d never even heard of you. Now you’re like queen of the world or something. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Get me a drink.” She watched him intensely as he took in her command.

“What?”

“You would like to get me a drink.”

“I would?”

His confusion was surpassed by hers. “Get me a drink. Now.”

“I don’t care if you’re the queen of the universe, girl. Get your own damn drink.”

For a moment, and going by the surprised look on her face, Charlie thought she was going to slap him or something. But instead she smiled.

“You’re a very interesting person, Charlie Ulray. Let’s go get a drink somewhere a little more classy.”

Before he could pull away, she reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly the world around him span into a whirl of colours and when the whirls slowed and settled he was no longer in his house. The room around him was huge, and he had never seen it before. But he spotted right away that this was some sort of high-end bar or club. The bar went the whole length of one long wall, and looked like it could cater to a hundred people at once. But it had only one barman, and no customers. Part of Charlie realised it was now somehow night time as well. Almost as soon as that occurred to him, he realised that he was mysteriously dressed in a black bespoke suit, and she had changed into a less revealing but even more glamorous evening gown.

Without a word, the barman mixed a cocktail and placed it on the bar. Irene smiled at him and stepped over to pick up her drink.

“Would Sir like a drink?” the barman inquired with forced warmth.

“I think I need one. Jack Daniels … straight up. Never mind the ice.”

“That’s a boring drink for such an interesting person,” Irene noted, taking a seat on a nearby stool and indicating Charlie should sit beside her. He didn’t. But that seemed to please her somehow.

“I don’t think I’m the most interesting person here.”

“Oh … but you are, though.”

“Not nearly as interesting as you.”

“You find me interesting … but you don’t love me.”

“Why would you care? Seems like everybody in the world loves you. Why is that, exactly?”

“Oh there’s no mystery there. Ask me something else.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Until a little while ago, I was nobody. Would you like to hear a story? You’d probably prefer to see it right? You look like a guy who likes movies.” She looked up at the huge flatscreen behind the bar and as if by magic it switched on.

Charlie downed his drink, and looked up as the picture focused on a man behind a huge desk.

 

+++

 

William McLean tapped the button and listened for his secretaries voice. “It’s agent Sirocco, sir.”

William was surprised. “Send him in.”

There was a buzz and the lock clicked open, allowing a tall darkly dressed man to enter. Unlike the man at the desk, this man had an uninviting face and was clearly agitated.

“Good morning, Frank. I thought you and your team would be halfway to ‘Cisco by now.”

“When I agreed to work for you, you assured me I wouldn’t get these ones. Want to explain to me why you need Alpha Team on this?”

“Ah … I think I know what this is about. I apologise … I should have briefed you personally.”

“You can brief me now. Or you can put someone else on this.”

“You did read the entire file, didn’t you?”

“The girl is innocent. She hasn’t manifested an ability and she hasn’t shown any signs of doing so.”

“You saw her test results. They’re in there.”

“I did. And if you ask me, it’s an anomaly.”

William frowned. “But I’m not asking you, Frank. According to three independent assessments this girl could potentially be the most powerful metahuman by a factor of thousands. Many thousands.”

“And yet she hasn’t shown any sign of ability. That’s in there too.”

“You know as well as I do that we can’t take the risk of her manifesting in San Francisco. What if she’s a pyro? She’d be a walking talking nuclear bomb right in the heart of a major city.”

“Send someone else.”

“With readings like hers, it doesn’t matter what ability she manifests. She’s got enough inside her to destroy half the state by the most conservative of estimates.”

“My team does not take down innocent women.”

“Innocent? Are we talking about the same person here? She’s got two drug charges, three shoplifting arrests each of which required the use of force, and a prostitution case pending. Hardly innocent. Do really want to let a girl like that manifest an ability? It could happen tomorrow, and where will your high moral standards get you then?”

“You know my team. She could get hurt real bad. Look closer at that criminal record. All crimes of survival, not of avarice. She’s got no family, and her friends are scumbags. She’s innocent of anything that warrants the firepower you’re sending.”

William stood up, and for the first time since Frank had started working for him he raised his voice.

“That’s not your call, damn it! It’s my call, and this ain’t a fucking democracy in here. You knew that when we first recruited you for Operation Lilac Flower, and nothing has changed. Let me tell you something Frank … let me be Frank a minute here. You’re one of … no … you are the best man I have. You know what we are trying to do, and you know its the right thing. I’m sending you because I have no fucking idea what this girl is. Our best propellor heads have no fucking idea what this girl is. You don’t know what this girl is. But we DO know she’s carrying more juice than every other metahuman on record put together. I don’t like this anymore than you fucking do. I didn’t sign up for this shit either. But here’s the rub. If I do nothing, and she suddenly goes live she will kill millions of people. Millions. You run the math. One girl versus millions? I can’t take that risk. The oversight committee would be the least of my concerns. Now … because we don’t know what she is, we have no fucking idea what she may be capable of. And I hate not knowing things like that, especially where the lives of my people are involved. Understand? That’s why you’re on this. Now get on the fucking plane, and do your damn job.”

Frank was as unreadable as ever, his face calm as he assessed his boss. For a moment William thought he was going to quit.

“Okay. I’m on it.” So saying, Frank headed to the door.

“Just like that?”

“I just wanted to be sure you were doing this for the right reasons. More to the point … that you’re making me do this for the right reasons. You started Operation Lilac Flower to help people, and for a minute there I thought you’d forgotten that.”

 

***

 

“That’s the cable car she should be on.”

“You mean the tram? Don’t cable cars hang from a cable?”

“Stay on point, Barbara. Can you sense her?”

Barbara tuned her unique senses toward the Powell/Hyde cable car as it neared the stop. The reading she got confirmed the report she had read on the plane. Normally she saw the metahuman aura like a gentle glow coming off a target. The light coming off the girl on the cable car was so vibrant if she had been standing she would’ve fallen over.

“Shit … she’s like the sun.”

“What about her ability? Can you see what she is?”

“No. She’s got no colour.” Blue ones were always super strong, like the hulking Dennis behind her in the back of van. Red ones always had some sort of extra sensory ability like Frank and herself. Their fifth passenger, Greg, was red of a slightly different hue, a shade Barbara had learned to associate with telekinesis. Just as she had learned that pure china white like the brilliant shining girl meant an unmanifested ability.

“There she is, Frank,” Danni, their resident watercrafter and seductress, informed them sharply as she lowered her compact binoculars.

Frank watched the girl a moment before gunning the engine. She looked like the respectable girl next door in her colourful sundress and sandals. But he knew it was a disguise. She wanted to be the same as the other students … to blend in. He knew he could not, but he wished he could let her.

“Okay. Let’s make this quick and clean.”

The operation began smoothly. They’d done the street grab many times. Dennis and Danni got out and followed Danni down the bustling footpath. Both kept a non-threatening distance and waited for Frank to drive the van up beside them. The girl they followed was kinda pretty, but in no way glamourous. She was carrying books, which they had expected. She was on her way to a class. It was the main reason Frank had needed more motivation than usual on this job. This girl was not only innocent of anything he considered very serious, she was working toward getting out of the rut her life was in. It was not her fault she was walking around with a reserve of power that made her an unpredictable weapon of mass destruction.

When the van was in the right position Danni put on a discreet burst of speed and overtook the girl. Gaining just a few feet of a lead she span around and waved at their target.

“Hi Irene! I almost didn’t recognise you there!”

The young blonde target stopped dead with a smile and examined Danni with a look lacking any recognition. “Hi …”

“Get in the van.”

Irene looked startled as Greg slid open the van door, noticing the van parked there for the first time. Confused, she turned to run only to see a man who looked much scarier than the strange woman. He was huge.

“Just get in the van. Don’t make a scene.”

“Are you … are you,the government or something?”

“That’s right. We’re with the government.” It wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Alright. Let me see a badge, then.”

Dennis smiled. They didn’t carry badges. Or guns. He didn’t need either to get this girl in the van. He reached out one hand and grabbed her shoulder. He was careful not to hurt her as he applied a little of his mutant strength. Moving the girl forcefully toward the van he found the task far more difficult than he had expected.

“What the hell! What …” The girl went quiet and a strange look passed her face before she smiled. “Oh my … I feel … funny.”

Dennis was suddenly sweating, and somehow was unable to move her any further. That’s when this simple run of the mill plan of theirs began to unravel.

Dennis felt a very strange sensation under the thin fabric of her dress. Her shoulder was swelling in his tightening grip. But not only swelling. The ball of her shoulder went from soft and squishy, to firm, and then to marble hard under his fingers. A horrifying idea ran through his mind. Was she somehow sapping his strength? He had a crazy accurate sense of touch, though. He could feel the pressure he was applying through his fingertips and knew he wasn’t any weaker. He had never come across anything he couldn’t move with his hyper-strong muscles, not since his power had manifested. His mind flipped back to the day he had tackled a tank and how he had forced it to a halt and disabled the tracks. He hadn’t been able to lift it … but he had moved it. This girl, her body rapidly developing into something a physique competitor would be envious of, was completely immobile. And it dawned on him with more than a little trepidation she was now two inches taller and still growing.

“What’s happening to me?”

“Frank … I’ve never seen that shade of blue before,” Barbara said urgently. “It looks more … more pure.”

“She’s manifesting right now.”

Irene closed her eyes, Dennis getting both hands on her now and straining to move her to the van. It was glorious. Like her body had been a Lada and she just traded it for BMW M3 … now an Aston Martin … no … now it was a Bugatti Veyron. Her loose fitted sun dress strained bravely to hold up, but it was fighting forces it could not dream to cope with.

Dennis stumbled back, and Danni just stood dumbstruck. Greg focused from wthin the van and got a grip on her with his mind. He began to lift her and Irene slowly levitated up and moved toward the van. She got about an inch up and a foot forward before she slowed and stopped. Her eyes flipped open and she looked about in a panic. When she waved her arms about Dennis was thrown clear, and invisible forces flung out from her waving arms to shatter the concrete and knock the van sideways three metres. Irene was back on her feet, despite Greg trying with all his considerable might to move this girl. He strained to no avail.

“What the fuck!” Irene was totally confused.

Frank was busy using his gift to make everyone in the area ignore the scene and walk away from them. He was good, but he had to focus hard to control so many at once. The team knew that until he could clear the area they would have to improvise. He would be unable to give orders to them while he was concentrating so hard.

There wasn’t enough water to be useful, and she could clearly see physical force against this suddenly tall and strong amazonian woman, so Danni opened her blouse a little and summoned her favourite ability. Playing with her enhanced seductive power was much more fun than knocking people over with waves anyway.

“Just relax, Irene,” Danni told her gently, bringing to bear every little trick she had learned her special body was capable of. She stepped forward and touched her shoulder where the muscle had torn through the seam, unable to hide her awe at how much the target had changed since Dennis had grabbed her. She had muscle just like Greg only a little larger now. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

For a moment it worked perfectly. Danni had seduced a lot of people and she knew the look that Irene gave her all too well. That little touch on the shoulder backed up by the irresistible pheromones and her special hypnotic voice garnered all of Irene’s attention. The fear fell from her face and she blushed with sudden arousal. Then a sparkle of realisation flashed across her features Irene was now smiling in devilish sexy way that chilled Danni’s heart.

Before Danni could run she felt her body become flush with an arousal so intense in every fibre of her being she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re so … beautiful.”

“I don’t know who you are. But I think I’m learning what this is about.”

Confronted by overwhelming force all Danni’s defences crumbled. “I need you.”

“That was your power, wasn’t it? Making people need you. And the grabby meat head … his power was super muscles?” She gestured and without looking at him she sent Dennis flying into a shop window with just the force of her will. “And the other guy can move things with his mind.”

“Please … I …” Totally oblivious to the rest of the world Danni moved forward and leaned in for a kiss. But Irene put out a hand and pushed her back so that Danni stumbled and fell.

“I know what power you’ve got because I have it now too.” Irene stepped forward and reached one mighty hand down to grab hold of Danni’s upper arm. With terrifying muscular ease Irene hoisted the smaller woman high into the air. “I’ve got all three powers. And I know how to use them it seems.” Her free hand rose toward the van and Greg came floating out, his neck offering itself to her grip. “Only … I think I’m stronger than any of you. A lot stronger.” She closed her eyes a moment, concentrating on her muscles and examining them from within. She wasn’t even trying to apply any of her true power, but she instantly saw what to do. Opening her eyes to watch their reactions Irene made herself stronger. Her dress ripped apart as her physique swelled out of it and both her captives felt themselves rise with increased height. Her stretchy undergarments were all that survived.

Frank could see what was happening, but was still busy getting the civilians off the street. Horrified, Barbara made a break for it. But she felt a force grasp her quite firmly and hoist her into the air.

“What about you? What power do you have?”

“Let me go! FRANK!”

“Frank? Is he the driver? What are you people? What am … I?”

Barbara felt a wave of sexual pleasure swamp her as Irene casually demolished her ability to think clearly with a simple yet infinitely suggestive raising of her left eyebrow. “You’re … special.”

Even through the haze, Barbara couldn’t help but notice the very odd thing that happened when Irene released Greg and reached out to grasp her. Well, two strange things. The first was strange though not entirely unexpected: Greg stayed right where he was a foot off the pavement. The second was what happened when Irene’s hand entered Barbara’s aura. Barbara’s power allowed her to see her own aura, even though it was quite difficult given how brilliant Irene’s aura was. And when Irene’s hand touched Barbara’s aura the colour of Irene’s aura shifted slightly. She didn’t bother to actually grab hold of Barbara, far too absorbed in the new information written into the auras of those around her.

“Oh! You have the power to sense other people with power. You can even tell what power they have! And your driver … he’s a … ooh … he has mind control!”

Barbara smiled, stupid now with lust, and nodded. “Yeah,” she observed dreamily. “But I can’t tell so precisely. I mean … I only get a vague idea.”

“Wow! Look at me! I’m shining like a nuke compared to you! Oh my … I’m like, not just a lot stronger. You’re like next-day glowsticks compared to me.”

“Enough.”

Frank got out of the car. “Put everyone down. Gently.”

Irene smiled sweetly. Yes … she thought. I would like to put everybody down gently There! Just like I wanted to do. Now … what was I…

“You need to get in the van.”

Irene was suddenly aware this man was absolutely correct. She did need get into the van. There was a crunching sound as she strode toward the van.

“Carefully!” Frank added, stunned at the damage her foot did to the concrete. “You wouldn’t want to damage the van.”

Irene cautiously climbed into the van, but the springs groaned in protest.

“I can’t get into the van without damaging it,” she told him, looking confused. “I’m too heavy.”

“Make yourself smaller, so it’s safe.”

Irene smiled, and made herself smaller. She liked the strength though … the way it felt in her muscles. She found herself able to shed a great deal of mass, reducing her size to normal, without losing any of the wonderful physical strength she had summoned. It thrilled her tremendously to know the next time she grew her muscles back she would much much stronger. She still weighed more than she should have, and the van lurched dangerously, but she was able to climb in.

“Now just lay down and get some sleep. You’re so tired. Stay there until I wake you up.”

“Frank … what the fuck just happened?” Greg demanded, as he stood staring at the sleeping Irene.

“It’s alright now. We got her.” Frank examined the girl, and patted her head gently. “Let’s roll.”

“Frank! No!” Barbara was still shaking off the torturous arousal, but she still spotted the new shift in Irene’s aura. How could she not spot it.

“What?”

“She’s got your ability too now.”

“No problem,” Dennis assured them, finally emerging from the ruined storefront. “We just don’t tell her to wake up.”

“Not that easy,” Irene informed them, “Frank’s commands are too weak for me.” She sat up and swung her legs out of the van while everybody backed up.

“I think you know why we are interested in you now,” Frank observed. “Please come with us to the facility, and we’ll explain everything.”

“I think I understand the most important part already, Frank. You guys have some weird super-powers and shit … and so do I. I can copy anyone’s powers … but I’m so much stronger aren’t I?”

“You are. There’s a lot at stake here. Please come with us.”

“Why don’t you tell me where we’re going first? What is this facility? Honestly?”

“The facility is a place where we put metahumans into chemically induced comas to keep them contained so the scientists can study them.”

“Frank …” Greg was shocked. “They aren’t experimenting on those people are they?”

“Everyone, be quiet and let Frank speak. Are they, Frank? Do you want to take me and let them experiment on me? How many people have you got locked up in there?”

“They need to experiment on people like you so we can find out how to control these powers. I don’t know how many subjects the entire operation has acquired. I estimate there are over two thousand inmates.”

“Interesting. And does everyone have different talents?”

“There are many who have the same. Endurance and strength stuff mostly. We usually just kill those with mind-powers. Too risky to contain, even asleep.”

“I can see how they might be a problem. Alright. Let’s go to the big scary prison and do some experiments. Cheer up and act normal, all of you. You are happy to get me coming along and none of you even remember me stealing all your powers. All of you even like me. Don’t you?”

“I’m glad you could see it our way, Irene. I didn’t even tell you the best bit. You’re getting a free plane ride. Ever been in a plane?”

“No, Frank. It sounds like fun.”

“Let’s stop and get some fried chicken or something on the way. I’m real hungry, aren’t you guys?”

“You’re always hungry Dennis.”

***

 

The facility they took her to required a short flight over an arid desert landscape. The van drove out of the C-130 and onto an otherwise empty and dusty runway, and Frank steered them around to an oversized tin shed that looked in need of a facelift. But before they got halfway the hanger doors opened and out poured heavily armed soldiers in desert camo gear.

A voice came of the stereo system as Frank hit the brakes.

“Hold it right there, Frank. Thank you.”

“What the fuck kinda welcome home is this?”

“On review of the mission to this point, management has decided not to allow you and your prisoners to enter.”

“There’s only one …”

“I’m not talking to you, Frank. I’m talking to Irene. It would seem you and your team have been compromised.”

Irene smiled. They had been watching the whole time, and she had to assume that had at least some idea what her intentions where. “Hi there! What’s with all the men and guns?”

“Get out of the van, and surrender peacefully, Irene. Nobody needs to get hurt.”

“Nobody will get hurt if you just get those men out of my way.”

“I can’t let you into the facility. We’ve seen what you did to Frank’s team. We are aware of your abilities.”

“I don’t think you’re aware what I can really do. Order your men to get out of the way.”

“Are you trying to use your mind powers on me? I’m a safe distance away, I assure you.”

“Not for long.”

Having spent the entire trip practising, Irene only had to gesture at the door and Dennis opened it up for her. She stepped out, still dressed only in her comfy underwear because she was really enjoying her new improved physique and the reactions it got from people. The combination of her enhanced muscles and enhanced sex appeal seemed to work mercilessly with both men and women. The small army before her took up a combat stance, and a hundred assault rifles aimed right at her. She took a few steps forward from the van and placed her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know what they told you, but you don’t stand a chance,” she told them, her tone revealing her clear enjoyment of this fact.

“Get down on the ground and spread your limbs! NOW!”

“I don’t know about getting down on the ground … but how’s this for spreading my limbs?”

With a naughty grin Irene stretched her arms out and arched her back, gently filling herself with galling physical power. She started to grow, her height shooting up as her body filled out with what she knew was far more power then she would need. She was so buzzing with the joy of suddenly possessing the strength of a titan that she didn’t even notice the first bullets. It was the sound of gunfire that made her realise it hadn’t just started raining. Bullets could no longer harm her. Her molecular structure was altered now to the point that her body was tougher than any other known element.

The officer commanding the large security team ordered them to cease their barrage, aware that it was not doing any good. He gestured, and a man nearby dropped to his knee and fired off a rocket propelled grenade.

Not wanting the van to get destroyed, Irene bolted forward to smash herself into the grenade. The explosion felt glorious, shockwaves and shrapnel delectably caressed her smooth skin. What would have killed almost any normal human being felt nothing short of erotic to Irene. She stood eight feet tall, and weighed actually a hundred times more than it looked like she weighed, and it looked like she weighed a lot. Her large surface area became awash with Devine pleasures while she watched the men slowly realise (six rockets later) that they were turning her on.

“That feel’s real nice! What else have you got?”

A full assault was ordered, and a for a moment the whole lot of them tried everything and anything they could think of. She was certain several of the weapons they used were new and experimental. All they managed to do was hurt her clothes, and she had taken care of that mostly herself before she got there.

Giggling at the bizarre situation, Irene raised a hand and called out to them all to stop. “That’s enough! Run away now! Shoo!!”

The instant she spoke every man stopped shooting, chose a random direction away from Irene, and bolted into the desert.

Looking back at the van, and realising she’d have to shrink to get back in, Irene shrugged. “I think I got it from here, guys. It’s probably safer if you wait out here.”

Irene strode toward the hanger, revelling in how her powerful body thrummed with incredible potential, and playfully crunching her feet into the tarmac so that cracks spread several feet every time she took a step. Inside the rough looking old hanger she saw almost exactly what she expected. It was empty save for a fuel truck, a forklift, and some scattered small equipment. What was missing was a clean and ready to fly Learjet.

Irene had quizzed Frank and his team extensively on the facility that housed the world’s most dangerous individuals. She knew that the floor was either a massive lift that one would think inspired those used on aircraft carriers (the truth, as Greg had revealed, was the exact opposite of that) or a door that slid into place identical to the lift itself. An obsolete part of the US nuclear weapons deployment from a time before ICBM’s were perfected, the massive facility was designed to house small top-secret high altitude bombers, and for the sake of secrecy the hangers had been built below ground in a huge complex any Bond villain would be envious of.

The now eight foot tall and tremendously powerful young woman could not tell if the floor was the elevator or the door that closed above it when it was lowered. Both were made of thick steel plate, and both looked exactly the same.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to open this up and let me in, are you?”

There was no answer … not that she had expected one. Examining the floor closely she saw no seams anywhere, but was confident she didn’t need a seam to work with. Rather than reach down with her hands or stamp her foot, Irene concentrated her mind on one spot a few feet away and made a spinning gesture with her hand. The metal she was staring at so intently started to glow as it swirled around, slowly at first then like it was coffee being stirred. She released the metal once enough had become molten to let her through and it dropped down the shaft leaving a perfectly sized opening for Irene to jump through.

As well as asking about the facility, Irene had interrogated the team sent to fetch her on their powers. She already instinctively knew how to use these new abilities she had copied, she wanted to know anything these experienced metahumans had to tell her. From that discussion, she had learned that Dennis was practically invulnerable. He was able to take large calibre bullets, but rockets though not fatal did cause him injury. He had jumped out of planes without parachutes and Irene was thousands of times stronger than he had been so jumping this small height didn’t cause a moments hesitation.

The splashes of molten metal allowed her to see the floor and land neatly on her feet. Falling six storeys with such total confidence was a thrilling experience, and though her impact had deeply damaged the steel plates beneath her she was tempted to have another go at freefalling. But as exciting as that idea was, the treasure trove she suspected awaited her was moe than enough to keep her moving.

There was a massive hall, big enough for planes to taxi along, running off in both directions. But right there in front of her was a huge steel blast door, and Frank had told her what she wanted would be found in there. It was seven feet thick and magnetically sealed, and designed to withstand any assault imaginable. But none of the engineers could have possibly imagined the kind of forces Irene had at her disposal.

She walked straight up to the door and placed her palms on the cold surface to give it a little experimental push. To her joy the steel let out a deep groan and gave a little. She pushed harder and though it required a considerable effort she able to force her hands into the surface. With a cocky smile she watched closely and poured forth with another thousand tonnes of super muscles, gaining another foot of height and giggling as her hands grew easily within the steel. Now it was easy to move her hands into the steel. It was so easy she found herself giggling. Pulling her arms out she stepped forward and pressed her body into the supposedly impenetrable barrier and felt it surrender to her wonderfully hard nipples before collapsing before the might of her pert breasts. She just walked through the steel as though it were a wall of water, and emerged on the other side into a bright lit but empty elevator shaft.

“Mind if I drop in?” she called out, leaning over the edge of shaft and looking down into the depths. With great relish she stepped off the edge and fell deep into the earth. This shaft was lit, and the lights flashed by as she let out a thrilled shriek of joy. This was better than ride at Disneyland.

The impact was much more impressive, but her massively increased physical strength allowed her to absorb the force without bending her knees as much as last time.

She stepped out of the small crater and into a hail of bullets. What was left of the security team had lined the hallway here and were making another attempt on her life with just as much success as last time. Making no attempt to take cover, Irene instead stepped out and presented them with a better target.

One of them fired an experimental taser, it’s prongs managing to get tangled in her hair. The power pack for this taser weighed too much for it to be a viable weapon in the field, and had to be towed behind the man in a small cart. The shock it delivered was enough to vaporise a small dog, and plenty enough to cook a man-sized in seconds.

“Oh my … that feels SO awesome!” The sensation was delightful, and Irene couldn’t help but tweak her nipples and crush her breasts together as the supersized battery drained into her superized muscles. It ran out of juice too quickly for her liking, but the tens of bullets striking each second more than made up for it.

She felt a small peak rock her body, and sighed in contentment. Her small sexual release backed by her super intensified sexuality whomped through the men so hard most grunted before they fell, but all of them fell. As she strode carefully past them they lay on the floor in spasms of pure orgasmic overload. She couldn’t help feel a little godlike as she defeated them all just by indulging herself a little.

“Irene, please listen to me,” a voice implored over the P.A. system.

“Why would I listen to you? Didn’t you just try and kill me already?”

“Irene … you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing.” She had sensed them all while still on the surface. But now she was inside the main complex she could see them through the walls easily. There were twenty large rooms and countless smaller rooms dug into the bedrock and lined with layer upon layer of shock absorbing materials finished off with smooth concrete. Only at that moment, when she saw that seventeen of the massive rooms were filled with people Frank’s team and others like them had captured. “I’m going to set these people free.”

“You can’t do that.”

Irene laughed and strode forward toward the first large storeroom. “I’ve only had got the powers of your team so far and I’m already unstoppable. Imagine what I’ll be able to do once I’ve had just ONE of these rooms.” Standing in front of the large doors Irene gestured with her hand and the steel plate parted with a fearful rending sound and peeled back to let her pass.

The medical staff had all evacuated, and Irene was the only conscious person in a massive underground vault full of people. It was horrible. All these people, stuck here in medically induced comas to be used a lab rats. And worst of all … Irene herself knew with cold certainty that there was gurney and a drip somewhere down the hall waiting for her. She had no doubt whatsoever that they would love to poke and prod her. These prisoners scared the people running this place so bad they kept them unconscious, and none of them had anything approaching Irene’s power level. And she had already checked the entire facility and was not surprised to find no-one like her. No-one who could copy powers.

This particular room contained people with many different shades of blue and, despite the horror of the situation these people were in, Irene licked her lips. Some were very close to the shade of blue Dennis had been, but when she looked really closely it began to dawn on her that every single person here had a slightly different shade of blue.

Wasting no more time, Irene reached out with her mind and touched the aura of everybody at once, and her aura flashed and grew brighter. “Wow.” If felt incredibly good as she gained a staggering number of different physical abilities in an instant. Some of those people had abilities related stamina, and some related to speed. There were several whose muscles were enhanced in slightly different ways to dramatically improve efficiency, some on a cellular level, some on a genetic level, but the one person altered on a quantum level was instantly her favourite. Every single strength related power she obtained was amplified once by her incomparable reserves of raw energy, and amplified again by each and every other ability she had copied. The alteration on a quantum level wasn’t something the person she’d copied from could really appreciate. But Irene could use it in many ways somebody without a near-indestructible molecular structure could not. For one thing, she realised with a start, she could teleport herself to the next room, using the auras she could see through the wall as a reference.

Rather than going to the next room, a room that was full entirely of more blue inmates, Irene went to a room with nothing but red. She appeared in the centre of the room as if by magic, but she now looked completely different. She had shed most of her muscle mass and stood in a sexy minidress, the garment highlighting her still wickedly fit curves in awe inspiring ways. Even though she was back to a more reasonable size, her muscles were stronger than before even though she had actually consciously switched off more than half of the improvements she could apply.

It had felt wonderfully good to take the first batch, and she wasn’t certain she would be able to top that. She was wrong. When she worked her special magic in the red room her mind opened up … and she knew with certainty there were still some surprises ahead for her this day. Suddenly she could see all the normal people who were staffing this place through the walls, hidden in a deeper part of the structure she had been unable to light up before. She could hear them, with her ears. But also, she realised, with her mind. Frank had been able to control the minds of others, but reading minds was different. She could feel their fear, their confusion. She could also see the electricity in the walls, the computer system, the cameras, and in the nervous systems of every person in the complex.

Standing there in awe of her own widening awareness, Irene’s hyperdrive mind processed the information off the computers far faster than the data she mined from the minds of the staff. Minds were more complicated and she was new at this. Even so, in less than half a minute she had uploaded and analysed every drop of information the facility had stolen or discovered. The data poured through her head and her mind was easily able to reach conclusions on a dozen questions the scientists had spent over a decade pondering in less time than it took mix a screwdriver.

“I worked it out,” she declared. “I know the answer you built this place to find.”

There was silence, but just before she blinked into the next room a new voice asked softly: “Then tell us.”

“Reactor accidents. With all that there have been the accumulated radiation has reached a point where it caused this minor change and woke up these powers in our genetic code. What I can’t tell you is why I’m different.”

“But you know, don’t you?”

“Yes. When you have all the information it’s really obvious. But don’t worry. There’ll only ever be one me, I promise.” Even as she spoke she incorporated another room full of sleeping people, and couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she gained a random selection of powers, so many different abilities she wasn’t sure she would ever use them all. But there were some, like the new power she had to create and hold a small fireball in the palm of her hand, that she was sure would come in handy.

Even though she didn’t think she could improve her body any further, she still had six more rooms full of blue sleepers. Now that her mind was enhanced multiple times on multiple levels, she could see and understand every single tweak to her aura that those people would make. And when she thought about it a moment, it dawned on her that she probably didn’t need to teleport into each and every room. At this point, all she had to do was close her eyes and open her mind.

Those watching were stunned as Irene’s body seemed to shimmer a moment, her muscles twitching and shifting beneath her skin. She moaned in unashamed pleasure, and heard an unintentional “Oh my god” come over the P.A. She could understand. Her body settled into a clearly strong and completely intimidating physique. Every curved roared with untameable strength. But those same curves also shifted seductively, with all the subtlety of a siren’s most demanding song and so much more raw sex appeal.

“Now then … before I let all these poor people go, I want you to tell me something. Where are you?”

“We’re safe.”

“Really?” Irene was not surprised at all that she could trace the signal of the speakers on the wall to the man speaking, even though he was in a Learjet on his way to New York. Her voice came out of the pilot’s intercom. “You think you’re safe from me? Good luck with that, Garry.”

And then she was there, in the plane, with the five men and the one woman most responsible for the people held captive in comas back at the facility.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes! You see … you really aren’t safe from me. Not anywhere.”

 

+++

 

“Are you enjoying the movie, Charlie?”

As though someone had hit pause, the picture froze and Charlie was able to tear his eyes away. As soon as he had locked eyes on the movie when it started, it was as though the screen had locked its gaze right back at him and he couldn’t even blink. Swallowing as he tried to get a handle on how powerful Irene must be, he bravely looked his host up and down. “Did you save all those people? You didn’t show it.”

“You wouldn’t want spoilers so close to the end. We’re just about to get to that bit.”

“How did you get this movie made so fast? It’s like … like I’m really there.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ve got it all up here, Baby.”

“I’m just a mechanic. Why are you interested in me?”

“You’re not just a mechanic, Charlie. Your boss feels guilty about paying you such shit money. Did you know that? He’d never tell anyone that. And he’s left the business to you instead of his son. His son doesn’t know. His wife doesn’t know. Only your boss knows.”

“How … how do you know that?”

Irene smiled at him mysteriously. “Haven’t you been watching my movie? You know how. Because I’m special, Charlie. But don’t be jealous … you’re special too. Wanna see how the movie finishes? I do.”

 

+++

 

“We can help you.”

“No you can’t,” Irene told the nervous sweaty man. “I just helped myself to every superpower you ever studied, including the ones you never worked worked out. You know … those mysterious lucky few who seemed to have a power but didn’t? They had some of the best ones once you mix them up with others. I think what you mean to say is that I could help you. But I really don’t like you. In fact … it kinda sucks to be you guys right now, because I’m many thousands of times more powerful than every single of those people back there combined and I fucking hate you assholes.”

“Irene … you don’t understand.”

“I understand on a level far above your feeble capabilities. Did you know normal people have auras too? They’re so weak, that Barbara woman couldn’t see them, but they’re there. You’re like ghosts compared to me. And your minds are so puny. I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand. Not at all.”

“We understand that we can’t have that many metahumans running around out of control in society. Do you really think we could let them mix with normal people? It would have been disastrous.”

“I think it’s turned out quite disastrous anyway. It certainly has for you clowns. You were going to put me in a fucking coma and let me live out my life on drip while you poked and prodded me for secrets beyond your tiny brains. And I could literally kill you all right now in a million different ways. And you know something? I can see each and every possibility clear as day in my head right now.”

“You won’t save them. It’s too late.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re not the ones in charge. It wasn’t our idea, and it wasn’t our order. If it was up to me I would have let them live.”

In a flash, Irene dove through his minds and discovered the meaning of his words. Unbeknownst to those left behind, the security team and nursing staff, there was a secret security protocol at the facility involving a nuclear device. She turned her head back toward the comatose people she had planned to rescue and her incredibly enhanced eyes had no trouble focusing through the Earth to see the first generation atom bomb in a small chamber beneath the lowest lowest floor of the complex. It was on a timer with just moments remaining.

“Oh wow. You were going to kill all those people you locked up, and all those people who work for you. And you were going to do it with this?”

One of the men screamed, but all felt the chill of terror when Irene waved her arm casually and the atom bomb, its timer still ticking down through the last ten seconds, appeared and floated inside the Learjet with them.

“I guess I don’t need to tell you, but this won’t even mess my hair up.” She patted the surface of the bomb affectionally, and as her words sank in a bright flash vaporised the entire plane and sent shockwaves across the sky for miles.

The detonation actually felt even better than Irene had guessed it would. Her heightened senses allowed her to appreciate the display and the incredible sensations on her body in a way well beyond normal human comprehension. Her molecular structure was far too dense, far too resilient to suffer any disturbance at such a minor blast and the powerful waves of energy only served to highlight for her how wonderfully perfect her body was, and how insanely powerful she was now.

She hovered in the sky for a few minutes allowing herself to indulge in the pleasant afterglow a while before returning to the facility. None of the people there, including the cowering medical personnel, had any idea how close they had come to being caught up in the total destruction of the facility.

She considered her options for a few moments, moments that allowed her to contemplate thousands of scenarios. The main point she took into account was the simple fact that those assholes in the plane had been absolutely right. Most of these people were far too dangerous to be let loose on society with the powers they possessed. The solution she settled on was best everyone, though to be honest it was best of all for her. Along with the multitude of new abilities she now possessed was the power to absorb power, and just like every other ability she had obtained she was fully aware how to use this power and what she could do with it.

She reached out with her mind and ripped the powers away from every single person in facility in less time that it would have taken the nuclear device to obliterate them. They all jolted, and would have been in excruciating pain as a core part of their being was forcefully removed from their bodies and added to Irene’s already obscene aura. It was better sex for Irene, and Irene really loved sex. It was better, she realised with certainty, than cocaine.

But the best part was how free of guilt she felt. She had just stolen the most valuable thing any of these people would ever possess in spite of the fact she was already many many thousands of times more endowed than any of them. It didn’t even double her power level to take everything they had, but it did make for a rather substantial energy boost and gave Irene the biggest buzz she had ever felt in her life. And it was alright because she was doing the right thing. She was setting these people free.

Straps and drips vanished with a click of Irene’s fingers, a click that sounded like a cannon shot. The nurses and doctors remained hidden as their “patients” began to stir and make their way out of the facility. It took an hour, but slowly they came out of their stupor and found their way out of the damaged blast doors and up the elevator. Irene had to help them along, giving them subliminal hints, but before long everyone was outside in the hot sun beholden to their rescuer who stood on the roof the van that had bought her here.

“Okay! Everybody’s here!”

“Who are you?” one of the biggest guys asked, his question echoed throughout the crowd. “What is this place?”

“You have all been held captive by the government. They’ve been experimenting on you because you have … or had rather … special abilities that made you dangerous. I rescued you from them.”

“What did they do? I don’t have my power anymore!”

“None of you do. I fixed you, and now you can all go home!”

“Fixed us! You fucking bitch! You mean we’re all just normal again?”

Irene glared at the man he was instantly quivering before her. “Be grateful.”

Suddenly the whole crowd cheered, the man under her glare more fervently than any of them. She could actually feel their gratitude coming her way in tides, gratitude so great it bordered on love. And she liked it. It felt like nothing she had ever known before, and she wanted more. Their gratitude was like an actual drug entering her system.

“That’s better. I think you guys actually love me, don’t you? I want to feel that … that love you have for me. It’s … it’s really nice.”

And with that, her will washed through the crowd and they were helpless to stop loving her with all their hearts. There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd as they dropped to their knees and vocalised the pure unending adoration they felt for their saviour. Irene swooned as their love hit her like an soothing summer breeze. A finger unconsciously starting fiddling with a nipple as she thought about what her next step would be. Her arousal infected the mob, and within two heartbeats a wild orgy had broken out as they went helplessly wild with Irene-induced lust.

“I wonder what it would be like if everybody loved me?” She could sense them, her mind so ridiculously over-enhanced now that she could actually sense the mind of every person on the face of the Earth, and she knew how easy it would be. A little voice told her she shouldn’t do it, that it was wrong. That people deserved and had a right to free will. But her curiosity and the ease with she knew she could do it won out.

And she did it. She made them love her. It only took a small effort for her, and she knew what it felt like. Though none of them knew what she looked like, or what her personality was like, or even who she was, everyone on the surface of the Earth was utterly and totally in love with Irene. It wasn’t puppy-love. It was hardcore devoted and pious love. The kind of love that Irene knew a goddess like her deserved.

Seven billion minds were curious, so Irene employed several new tricks she had yet to try and took over the worlds communication network. Every phone rang, every radio carried her voice, and every television even those switched off displayed her face.

“I am Irene,” she said. “And I’ve decided to let myself rule the world now. That makes you very happy, doesn’t it?”

 

+++

 

“Is that really what happened?”

“It’s exactly what happened. It’s funny isn’t it? If they had left me alone I might never have met another metahuman, let alone touched another aura. Because they couldn’t leave me alone I’m now the Express of all life on Earth and they made me far more powerful than they feared because they feared I would be too powerful.”

“You can do all those things. You’re super strong, super sexy, super everything … and you can control peoples minds.”

“Mind control is my favourite, too, Charlie. I mean, if I had to use my body to get what I want it would take time and people would get hurt. Lots and lots of people would get hurt, And hurt badly. But with my mind, I can make anyone I want do anything I want anytime I want. And they’ll want to do it. More than they want to breath, and no less urgently.”

“Why are you interested in me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Everyone loves me Charlie. Totally and completely. Everybody on the face of the Earth … because I want them to. And when you’re an unstoppable goddess with unlimited power you get want you want. Every time. But then I felt you. Everybody does what I want, everybody except you. That makes you special.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Kill you? Why would I kill you?”

“I’m … disobeying you.”

“No you’re not. You’re not crumbling before my will. But being immune to mind control isn’t the same as disobeying someone. You don’t love me because for some reason I can’t force you to. Another drink?”

“You can read my mind. You know I need a drink.”

“Actually, Charlie. I can’t read your mind. There’s something about you that makes you immune to my mind powers. But I don’t know what it is. That makes you interesting.”

Charlie gulped. “Doesn’t that mean … I’m like some kind of threat to you?” He was starting to get very worried about his welfare given the awesome power Irene was playing with.

“A threat?” She laughed. “Oh Charlie. That’s so adorable! You know more about my powers than anyone on Earth, and you honestly think you might be a threat to me?”

Charlie chuckled and downed half his fresh glass. It was a nervous, “yeah … I didn’t think that through …” kind of laugh.

The bartender gave a forced laugh, and instantly regretted it when Irene focused her cool gaze upon him. “What’s so funny? You think you know any better how puny everyone is compared to me? Think you can laugh at my Charlie?”

The bartender looked confused and horrified. “I am sorry Great and Powerful and Wonderful Empress Irene! It’s just … he’s not exactly Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“You think because you’ve got big biceps and a black belt you’d be any more of a threat to me than Charlie? Come out here, and get that punch tool thingy out of your pocket.”

A little confused, he obeyed instantly and pulled a set of cruel knuckle dusters out of his pocket.

“Did you think i didn’t know about your little toy, Kevin? I know everything about you. Everything you’ve ever done, and everything you’re doing. Put them on.”

Irene stepped away from the dumbstruck Charlie and locked eyes with the tall heavily built barman. She’d picked him for his massive physical presence, and he had pleased her well enough. But she’d also picked him because he was a vicious mob enforcer, and she knew exactly how punishing being her sex toy could be these days. Even as her two playthings gawked at her in fear, Irene morphed her clothes into some way too revealing active wear.

“Hit me then, Big K.”

He didn’t want to. But the trouble was that didn’t matter. Since they had met she had controlled him completely with her sexuality, and dominated utterly with her impossible stamina and devastating strength in bed. This time, she controlled him with pure willpower alone and he felt his mind crack a little as he watched his brass knuckles sail toward Irene’s face as though they had been on someone else’s fist.

Charlie heard the crack of the blow, and he tried to keep a poker face as he watched this much larger man plough his knuckle-duster protected fist into Irene’s chin. He still howled in pain, as Irene’s jaw refused to give as much as a micron. Years of semi-professional poker had given Charlie a practised ability to hide his emotions, but he felt the fear cross his face and knew it was written there plain as day.

“Please … don’t make me do that again,” Big K begged.

“But you want to,”she cheerfully informed him. And it was suddenly true. “That feels nice,” she observed, genuinely enjoying his hearty blows as he pummelled her breasts until he was red in the face and puffing.

She allowed him to continue until he collapsed from exhaustion. It didn’t take that long, given the energetic fervour that he put into it.

“Still think I might consider you a threat?”

“Not without a proper weapon,” Charlie blurted, his mind imagining how useless it would be to try using his fists. The unconscious barman was almost twice his size, and she didn’t even flinch from his strongest blows.

“Are you planning to try doing me harm, Charlie?” she asked, her amusement abundantly clear. “What would you consider a proper weapon if a nuke can’t hurt me? Or didn’t you believe that bit?”

“I’m worried you’re going to do ME harm,” Charlie confessed.

“Well then. Maybe I need to show you why I don’t need to worry about you being a threat so you can understand why I have no intention of harming you, Charlie.”

In the blink of an eye they shifted to a new location. Charlie recognised the landscape as being somewhere near the facility, but this was not an airfield. Charlie instantly for the impression this was a weapons testing range.

“Where are we?”

“This is where they bring their new toys to play with them. And these toys are fun, Charlie. I’ve spent quite a bit of time already.”

The ground showed signs of charring and there were craters everywhere. Realising he was in a very dangerous place, Charlie looked around for a building to run to, but there was only open desert here.

“Don’t worry. No artillery or nukes today. This thing’s very focused, and you won’t be any danger. Best to stand a little further back, though.”

Irene strode away from him and turned toward the closest mountain range. She made a gesture, then stood with her hands on her hips and failed to hide her excitement at the anticipated blast. Hidden far up on the escarpment was a massive piece of equipment the scientists had laboured on for decades. It was ready for testing, Irene having solved the remaining technical hurdles and introduced several breakthroughs in the field of physics while doing so.

The beam the massive weapon produced was half a foot wide, and too bright at first for Charlie to look upon. It flashed into Irene’s waiting body and forced her to cry out in joy. The energised particles tried to disintegrate her molecules, igniting the sand at her feet and driving Charlie further away.

He watched on in awe as the death ray crackled and popped against her, completely destroying her clothes and turning the sand several feet all around her into glass. She was glowing brightly with the heat her body easily absorbed, until she shone like a lightbulb and Charlie could no longer watch her as she ran her hands erotically over the surface of her skin.

The death ray stopped, and she turned to face Charlie with her flesh still glowing from within. The air around her shimmered, and she took a few steps toward the man she considered to be the most interesting person on Earth.

“See Charlie? Even the newest toys the army have are no threat to me. Not only did that not hurt me … it made me feel fucking awesome. Do you like my tits Charlie?”

“Huh?”

He was suddenly VERY aware that she was naked. And through the haze he could tell she was horny as hell. Her nippled were rock hard and her hands were still roaming over her rapidly cooling skin.

“My breasts, Charlie. I’ve always been proud of them. But now they’re just out of this world, don’t you think?”

“They’re incredible. I’ve never seen …”

“Thank you Charlie. Compliments mean so much more coming from you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re not like the others. Now come over here and make love to me. I need a little help here.”

“I … I don’t think it’s safe.”

“Reluctance? I didn’t think I would … but I like that. You pose an interesting challenge, Charlie. Not a difficult one, to be sure … but interesting. Everyone else on Earth just does what I want … but not you.”

She gestured again, and Charlie stood in the biggest and most luxurious bedroom he had ever seen in his life. Irene lay on a bed decked out with silk and sporting only a pair of lace panties, and before through massive floor-to-ceiling panes of glass he saw the city of Sydney and Port Jackson laid out before him.

“Whoah … we’re in Australia now?”

“This is one of my favourite places.”

Charlie turned away from the spectacular view outside to find himself confronted with a mind-numbingly arousing view inside. She was kneeling on the bed running her hands over the silk and staring him in the face with smouldering heat in her eyes.

“Nothing turns me on more than that weapons range, Charlie. Fair warning. But I’ve got it worked out pretty good … so don’t worry.”

“Got what worked out?” Charlie asked dreamily, totally hooked on her fully cooled but undeniably smoking hot body.

“How to fuck without killing you. Even if I do break something or your heart gives out, I’’ve got something like a hundred-and-fifty different powers related to healing. So … no holding back on me, okay?”

“Wait … why me? Why do you want me?”

“You know why. Because you’re interesting. Now stop being such a tease and get over here.”