Darkstar

Paladin grunted with effort as she hurled the car at the sneering figure across the street. Property damage be damned, she was going to take out Darkstar. Someone had to, and Darkstar was beginning to run out of opposition to... whatever their plan was.

"Fuck... you!"

The vehicle spun like a rather unaerodynamic shuriken, only to smash against a wall as her target... did the splits? It was hard to see any expression under the hood (how did it always manage to shadow their face?), but Paladin was sure that she didn't like it.

"Fucking fight me!" she screamed. And that was the most infuriating part, really. Both times she'd managed to catch up to Darkstar, they just didn't *fight* her. Instead they did silly acrobatics and taunted her. And they weren't the kind of taunts she'd been trained to ignore. No-one acted like that!

"Maybe if you stop fighting, we can fuck. You must need a good fuck. When's the last time you took a break, pet?" Darkstar's soft voice wheedled its way to her ears, sounding for all the world like they were just behind her. Was that their power? Fancy voice projection? It couldn't be. What had happened to the others?

Paladin screamed in frustration and kicked off the wall behind her, launching herself like an angry javelin at the villain. Darkstar cackled, whipped out their cape, and Paladin flew through it, crashing into the wall.

In the moment it took her to throw the offending garment from her head, Darkstar was gone.

"Fuck!"

She took a moment to breathe, wiping sweat from her brow. Her white bodysuit was reinforced with all kinds of exciting materials and techniques, but it had a hard time dissipating heat from Paladin's overdrived physiology.

That creep had gotten away, just like last time. What was their game? Neither had landed a hit on the other, yet Darkstar acted like it was their damned birthday every time. Well, at least she had a clue to go on, now.

Paladin went to pick up the discarded cloak, only to look at its final moments as it seemed to evaporate into thin air. What the heck was it? Some kind of magical summon? A self-destruct mechanism? Pondering the options, she rubbed at her shoulders, only for her hands to come back with a thin film of black slime on them. Ew. She probably had some of that cloak disintegrate on her when she flew through it. She'd need a shower after this.

Well. No time like the present. With all the work it took her to find Darkstar, she wasn't going to get anywhere in this state. Maybe she should relax a bit. Recharge. Go in fresh tomorrow.

Elena groaned as the hot water sprayed against her back. She turned the pressure all the way, until it felt like the water was trying to drill through her back. Fuck, that felt good.

Finally, her body relaxed, and her mind followed suit. Being Paladin was hard work. Not just the physical effort of combat, but the combative *attitude* that was required as part of the job.

Tonight, she decided, she would chill out. She needed it. Taking care of her mental health was as important as anything else. Elena would just watch some TV, order a pizza, and relax.

It wasn't until the next morning, as she was putting on her suit, that she saw the stain. There was a black splodge on her shoulderblade. But she'd washed the suit and it had come perfectly clean! (she had several, but preferred to keep one in reserve rather than wear them both out)

Elena prodded her shoulder, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. She hadn't noticed it during her morning exercises, and wouldn't have known anything was off if she hadn't seen it. Well, it didn't seem immediately threatening, and she had to find Darkstar. Maybe they'd offer some answers. Villains loved to talk. If that fell through, she'd go see one of the special doctors that dealt with her kind. Special doctors for special girls.

This time, Paladin was lucky. She found her quarry after only a few hours of leaping from rooftop to rooftop, checking out the streets. And there was Darkstar, lurking in an alley, no doubt scheming something nefarious. Well, Paladin would put a stop to that!

The Hero dove off of the building, fists first.

The move was perfect. It was silent, it was precise, her target unaware.

So how did it go wrong? At the worst moment, when it was too late to correct her course, Darkstar somehow sensed that something was coming, and smartly slipped to the side.

More property damage, as Paladin struck the alley floor, driving through up to her elbow.

"Fuck!"

She stood up sharply, regrettably tearing up a respectable hole in the road to get her arm free again. Even with her reflexes, her position was open enough for Darkstar to get in a blow. She didn't even need her suit. It was made to resist bullets and dampen the strikes of even the most powerful attacks.

All Darkstar did, with no more strength than a baseline human, was slap her bottom. And that was somehow *so much worse* than anything else that could have happened in that window of opportunity. Was was wrong with them?! Why weren't they taking this *seriously*? Did they think this was some kind of *game*?

Paladin screamed in frustration and hurled the chunk of road she'd ripped free. Again, it missed.

"Always so rude, my dear! Who'd have thought that a pretty girl like you would have such a dirty mouth!" Darkstar cackled and flipped up onto a trash can, balancing on one leg. Paladin could have sworn that something winked from the shadows beneath the hood.

Perfect. Textbook. The villain thought they were in a superior position. Get them talking.

"What's your plan, Darkstar? What are you up to? What have you been doing with the heroes that have gone missing?"

Okay. Paladin wasn't an interrogator, it was true. She was a fighter.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They're doing juuuust fiiiiine. More than fine, even!"

Maybe she wasn't an interrogator, but she was secretly delighted that she'd gotten her opponent talking. Another win for Paladin! Though, it'd be nice if everything they said didn't sound so... filthy. Even though she'd barely felt the impact, she imagined she could feel her butt burn in shame from - nevermind that.

"What does that even mean? What's your plan?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Let's talk about *you*. How are you feeling? Getting enough rest? Enough time to yourself? It's a hard, hard job doing what you do."

Paladin was reaching for a signpost to swing, and paused. What the hell were they talking about? Did they not realise that they were here to fight?

"Shut up!"

She whirled her improvised weapon at her foe, but only succeeded in obliterating the poor trashcan, which did not withstand the assault. Physics took over, and once again Paladin was covered in something unpleasant as the contents exploded over her.

Infuriatingly, Darkstar had somehow managed to remain entirely pristine. And somehow grabbing onto the wall some distance above the putrid blast zone.

"Filthy language, filthy body! I don't think you're cut out for this fighting business, do you?"

Paladin screamed as they scampered up the wall, cackling away.

Fuck! That was twice, now! Twice she'd caught up only to be left alone in shame and filth.

Thank the Great Ones for showers. What a waste of time. She was back to square one, only feeling even worse about herself. Fuck! She was so angry about this whole thing! She could just-

Elena paused, and took a deep breath. Control. That's what she'd been taught. Don't get angry if there is no way to use productively. Maybe she should stop swearing. A calm mind would help her more than getting pissed every time Darkstar made fun of her.

At least no-one had been around to see her get humiliated. What was their plan? Talking about her pretty face and... spanking her?

She frowned in distaste as she washed herself, and ran her hands over her ass as she thought about it. Great Ones, she could still almost feel it. Who knew that humiliation burned deeper than being hit by a fireball...

Actually, now that she thought about it, her bottom did feel a little odd.

Twisting her body around, Elena did her best to inspect herself. And swore. Then chastised herself for swearing.

But there, unmistakably, was a black handprint on her ass. What the hell?! Now she looked like some weird objectifying pinup. Shit. Whatever it was, it had gone right through her suit. It was supposed to be proof against liquids or corrosive materials, but she'd have to check it for microperforations or something.

Elena sighed. Probably time to see that doctor, then. After the shower, though. Oh, being under the water felt great.

She was dimly aware that her hands were back on her butt, and she gently massaged the tension. Mmmm. That felt *really* good.

Elena snatched her hand away. Where did that come from? Maybe she *was* too stressed. At least being a Hero meant that she could make her own hours. A healthy mind, and all that. She could go see the doctor later. It's not like her performance was suffering. She was just suffering from poor performances.

She'd been browsing on her TV for something to watch, and settled on a trashy romance movie, when it occurred to her that she deserved someone. This vapid idiot girl was getting her big strong man to take care of her, and she just worked at some stupid flower shop. She didn't go around saving the city from Great Ones knew what dangers, while all the normies got to sleep safe and snug in their little normal beds.

But, it was so hard to find a guy when you someone like Paladin, super powered warrior woman.

Elena sighed. She'd been by herself for so long... And now they were in bed on the TV. What did she have to do to get some action? But she'd been so busy lately. Sure, she'd had a few hookups. Mr. Maximum and Power Lad were a while ago, but it had been nice. Elena had secretly enjoyed having someone around that was strong enough to push her down and take control. Someone that could take charge, and make her feel good...

She was dimly aware that her hand had slipped into her sweatpants, but that was okay. There was no-one around. She wriggled deeper into the couch, enjoying the feeling of the soft material around her.

That's all she wanted, really. To be held, and to feel good. To feel like a good girl.

Her hands sped up, and her hips began to rock, grinding into the couch.

Yeah. She deserved to feel -she let out cute little gasp, but was careful not to swear- to feel good, didn't she? She was a Hero. She was a good girl.

She came. Her body hungrily wriggled and quivered, autonomically seeking out pleasure. The couch might not last. It wasn't made for the likes of Paladin to mindlessly hump it.

When she woke up, she was pantless, the couch was a mess, and it was past noon.

She was late for work.