Murphy's Rule (complete)

Angela heard the motor roar as the car hit her and sent her flying through the air. Her toughened bones did not break bit she was bruised, and grunted as she rolled down the road. She got up, her eyes clearing enough to see the car backing up for another run. With speed that surprised her she ran at the reversing car, making the uniformed woman within drop her foot on the pedal in the panic. She lost control and hit a parked car. Angela was there, an angry look on her now 25 year old face, and her fist shattered the driver's side window. Her hand gripped the cops throat and the bruises were quickly healed and her eyesight fully restored.
Giving the girl an evil stare, Angela opened the car door and pulled the small corpse out. Hopping in, she dropped it into gear and pulled a hard U turn, tearing off down the road in the badly damaged car.

Angela pulled into the large parking lot and stopped the car right in front if the Mall's door. She got out of the car and proceeded to walk toward the entrance when a security guard approached her.
"You can't park there!" he informed her firmly.
Angela smiled. "I can park wherever the hell I want," she replied, reaching out to brush a hand on his cheek. She walked away as the almost invisible connection drained him slowly of life. As she entered the mall she touched anyone she passed, leaving a string of horrified people collapse ing in her wake. The mist became a smoke at their essence flowed into her. The sensation of taking so many was increasingly devine. Angela caught her reflection and stopped. She had stopped getting younger, looking to be about 19 years old, and was now getting bigger. Through her torn clothes she saw the new muscle tone of her steadily developing body and got quite a thrill. She was already and inch taller, and looked strong and obnoxiously healthy. With a smile, she turned to the panicking people in the mall and began a lengthy game of tag. Her already vastly improves reflexes and the speed her new physical power gave her, Angela considered how unfair it was for her victims. They could not outrun her, and all she had to do to seal their fate was make contact. Within three minutes Angela greedily quadrupled her speed and strength.
About a third of the way through the building someone pulled the fire alarm. Angela picked up the pace, determined to claim as many as she could before the cops and the fire brigade arrived, and more importantly, before the cheeky hero arrived. She wanted to be much more powerful before taking on the superstrong girl again.

"Ha! You think I have to justify myself to you! F&?k you! I've got about all the strength I need already to take you out powderpuff! And just think how much stronger I'll be once you give me all that strength of yours! Bring it on!"
Angela concentrated in drawing in all the energy from those she was connected to, and her upper body threatened to tear through her clothes. She was a little taller, and her visible flesh shone with health. She watched the girl very closely and waited for her to make a move.

"What do you mean, it's you I want? You followed me! You're just like all the others...thinking you know me! You don't know anything about me, girlie...and I suggest if you don't want to be on the menu you better run along. Otherwise, I'll use you to make myself stronger!"
The last of those she had tagged became added to her strength, and Angela was starting to look slightly buff, and feeling much more confident already about taking this do-gooder on.

"That's right! Not so tough without your tree, are you?"
Angela went in the other direction, thinking she'd seen the last of the princessn for now. She moved into a large department store within the mall, inside of which her amplified hearing could detect a large of group of people hiding from the horror taking place outside.
They were scattered about the place, and giving her legs a quick flex, simply adoring how awesome it felt to be not only young but incredibly fit and healthy...Angela broke into a sprint no Olympian could hope to match. She picked and tagged herself all those hiding alone, and then sought out the first group. She came to stop at the end of the sporting goods isle, where a group had gathered and now stood with a variety of guns and bats.
"Aren't you going to run?" Angela asked, tilting her head. One of them ran forward, and Angela met his charge with a shove in the chest. All the air rushed from his lungs as he sailed backward into several others, knocking them all down. A shot rang out, followed by two more. Then there was silence. Having failed to fully penetrate her skin, the slugs fell to the floor...and the small streams of blood ran back into the small wounds which then healed over with no scar. "Run...don't run...it's all the same to me."

Angela screamed.
"You crazy bitch!" The jolt sent her sailing through the air over an aisle and down into a stocked shelf. Her confidence waned a little, and Angela made for the nearest exit as fast as she could, unaware that her chaffed ass was full display.
She had to get more, and if she could just get out of here and loose that self righteous for twenty minutes, Angela knew she could get a lot more of what she needed to take down her opponent at the gym three blocks away. Power without responsibility is pointless...Angela couldn't disagree more. All her life she had to fight tooth and nail against a patriarchal society bent on keeping a smart woman like her down. Soon she would have the power to make them pay...to make them all do what she wanted. If she was nearly bulletproof after less than two hundred, what would she be able to take after a week of this...harvesting? Not for a moment did she think of what she was doing as anything more than that. And the city of Cape Hope offered a good harvest.
And another thing she needed, she realised, was a welding mask or something. Anything that would protect her super-sensitive eyes from that mysterious light the girl was constantly blinding her with.

Feeling a little weaker from healing herself, Angela made her across the street and down a narrow alley, establishing a connection withas many people as she could as she made her way swiftly to the gym down the road. Sirens were sounding from all directions, and she realised time was no longer on her side. The meddlesome brat had made this much harder than they needed to be.
Then Angela had a brainwave. All she had to do was touch the girl and all the strength that was making her such a pest would be hers. Healed from her internal injuries, she stopped running and turned to see if she could spot her pesky assailant.
"She's right," Angela mused. "It is her I want..."

"You want a peice of me bitch? Well here I am!"
Angela put her hands under a dumpster beside her and hoisted into the air over her head with a grunt of effort. She turned toward the brat at the mouth of the alley and prepared to throw it as fast as she could. Her efforts were stymied by the appearance of a new figure landing on top of a fire escape. He was dressed in a black suit and had hidden his eyes behind a large pair of dark glasses. As Angela pulled back to throw he launched a blast of green energy from his hand that slammed into the dumpster and knocked it out of Angela's hands.
"Leave this to me, Young One," the older man intoned with what could be mistaken for someone with too high a voice doing a Batman impersonation. "Get yourself to safety!" So saying, the new arrival hopped over the railing and used his green energy to float down safely to place himself between Star and Angela.
"Who the f&%k are you?" Angela demanded. "How many of you weirdos are there?"
The man answered by extending both hands and sending her rolling down the alley.
"I'm Blaster. And there's only one weirdo I can see."
Angela tumbled helplessly as the force of the beams carried her down the alley. This was getting ridiculous! She reached the end of the building and rolled in behind it to get a break. That had hurt. She wasn't going to let him get her like that again. Angela grabbed some bags of trash from beside a nearby doorway and hid there. She didn't have to wait long for Blaster to come running around the corner. As she hoped, he didn't see her. Just as he passed by she leapt out and tackled him. He lit himself up with a green energy shield, but it was too late...she had touched him.
Though she was thrown off by the energy shield, Angela could still feel his life force entering her body. It was quite different than she had expected, as though it were more concentrated and far more potent than anyone else's that she had stolen so far.
"Oh Blaster! Mmmm...that feels really good!"
He rapidly turned pale as the thin mist of his energy draining out of him became a thick smoke. Angela stood before him holding out a hand into which the smoke of his essence flowed. Just before he blacked out he looked up at her to see an evil smile on her face.
"How does it feel to be a hero?" she asked him, kicking him to the ground with her foot.
Angela felt different. She could feel something inside her, something new...something powerful. She held up her tingling hands and looked at them.
"I wonder..."
Holding a palm out toward the opposite wall Angela instinctively launched a beam of green energy into it. Grinning, she did it again.
"Oh my!"
Concerned that she was practically naked now, Angela looked around for the young upstart that had made what should have been her perfect day fall short of that.

Angela stepped confidently back around the corner, but didn't see any sign of the girl.
Looking down at herself she noticed two things simultaneously. She had to get new clothes, and her body was astoundingly developed. Seeing the faint outline of abs on her stomach made her smile. She'd never been very fit. Now, and through no real effort on her part, she was super-fit.
Not allowing herself to admire her new body for too long, Angela moved on as fast as she could to her intended goal: The local gym. Rather than show concern as people stood shocked at the sight of her, Angeal smiled warmly at her victims and quickly allieviated any concerns thay may have had about her appearance. Before she entered the gym she added another nine people to growing tally.
"Um...I'm sorry miss, but you cannot come in here dressed like that."
Angela smiled at the young and rather large male receptionist.
"I've had one hell of a morning!" Angela explained. "I was just going to go into your merchandise department and pick up an outfit."
"Um...okay. But I'll need to see some sort of proof of membership."
"That's a shame. I was hoping to be a little more subtle." Angela reached out and touched the hand he had placed on the counter. He turned pale and fell over. Angela hugged herself as his energy flowing into her. It wasn't as potent as Blaster's, but it was still more potent than most of the people she had claimed so far. Yes, she thought, coming to the gym had been a very good idea. Angela left the man there, and went into the small alcove where the gym sold its workout gear. She picked out a small but simple lyrca outfit, a two-piece set that would let her show off her improved abs. The attendant asked the question of cash or charge, and Angela answered by taking the man's considerable strength and vitality. She sat him in a nearby seat and leant him over as though he were sleeping. Seeing that he now looked like a man in his nineties, most people would just assume he was an old man having a nap. Making sure no-one was watching, Angela sat the receptionist next to him.
Looking into the vast wortout area and it's myriad of machines, Angela was extremely pleased to see how many people were here today. This was one of the best gyms in Cape Hope and boasted several top bodybuilding competitors as clientelle. Hoping that a few of them were in today, Angela smiled and went in.

The place was abuzz with activity, and while a few heads turned to see the new arrival no one's eyes dwelt for too long. In this place everyone was beautifully built. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror wall long mirror, Angela noticed she was still walking like an old lady. She took a moment to straighten herself up and thought about how she should proceed. Was there any point in being sneaky? She could feel her strength, all that stolen potency pumping through her veins. She could just start draining people, and there was very little any of them could do to stop her. But thinking about it, she realised that everyone would know soon enough. And when they did find out what terrible fate awaited them this day there would be plenty of chaos. Why rush?
Reaching the big group of steroid fueled pump junkies, Angela offered them a smile.
"Hello."
"Hi there, little lady," the closest man greeted her, eyeing up and down in a blantant assessment.
"I'm kind of new here. Can one of you fine gentlemen show a lady around?"
"Well, we're kinda busy," another hulking fellow informed her. His tone was all business.
"Oh?"
"Allow me," the man who had spoken first offered, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her toward to the long row of machines behind them. "I'll be back in a while fellas."
The others shook their heads at him while Angela tried not to drain too much. She found it quite easy to stop the absorption, relieved that she could have a little fun. As she was escorted past the gathered bodybuilders, Angela 'accidently' brushed any who were conveniently close enough. She could feel a connection, and realised she might be able to tag most, if not all, of the people unfortunate enough to be working out today.
The man took her around the gym and showed her where everything was. He had obviously done this before, because he was spewing information like a tour guide. Angela was busy sneakily touching as many people as she could. It only required the slightest touch.
"So...do you want to warm up?"
"I want to use that one," Angela informed him, pointing to where several bulky blokes she had not yet tagged were using curl machines.
"Sure," he shrugged, leading the way. "What do you want me to set it on?" he asked.
Angela thought about that. She was far too strong to show him anything close to what she was really capable of without raising suspicion. But then...she had tagged half the room already, and he'd be dead soon anyway. For some reason, the idea of showing off her physical power in front of this obvious gym junky gave her quite a thrill.
"How about halfway?"
"Um...you have done this before right?"
"Well...no."
"Seriously? You expect me to believe that? With that body you've got? Alright, girl. I'll play along."
Nobody had called her a girl in so long that he'd made her smile. "Thank you."
Angela took a very poor position on the machine, looking a little awkward as she prepared to do the lift. The man watching was obviously amused. But his smile vanished as the weights smoothly lifted, and went back down with a clang. She started doing it over and over, much to the astonishment of those watching. She smiled at them as she let go of the machine. Having watched her guide set the weight, she reached over and maxed it out. Then she started to do her incorrect curls again, just as fast.
"How is this supposed to be any good for you?" she asked.
"It pumps the bloods through...hey! What kind of game is this?"
Angela smiled. She had waited as long as she possible could. It was time to get started.
"You know...I think I can feel it working!"
As she curled the weight, Angela started to slowly sip from the people she had tagged. Her head started to spin. Taking so many at once, and all of them so healthy and strong, far eclipsed the rush she had gotten from Blaster. And the massive dose of life force showed physically as every muscle in her body increased in size and density. "Wow! This feels great!"
The man fell to his knees, and cries of distress went up all around the gym. His eyes widened at her increasing size, and then he noticed his shrinking body.
"You're...stealing my muscles," he whimpered.
"Don't be ridiculous," she chided. "I'm just working out is all!"
Confusion reigned. Then one of the big guys on the curling machine noticed what was happening to Angela as she arched her back and moaned in pleasure.
"It's her! That bitch over there!"
Angela snapped to reality quick smart, and glowered at the untapped source of power who dared to insult her. Still curling away at the same pace she let go of the machine with one hand and rasied her palm to the rude man. She underestimated her increasing power, and the blast she sent at him knocked him flying. He lay on the floor, smoke rising from his charred body. Angela was just as surprised as everyone else. But the drawback to her angry murder was twofold. She wasted a potential 'meal', and caused all those who were able to rush for the door.

I had planned to do a lot more on this over the weekend, but I'm headed out bush. So if I go all quiet for a few days, don't worry...I've just gone off the reservation for a little while. If I find any passenger planes while I'm out there I'll be sure to let someone know...