Deformation of Character

Valiant Guardian pressed the breaks gently and came to rest just outside of Kepler Tower, the bright lights illuminating the lobby a stark contrast to the darkness that engulfed the city at this late hour. The security guard looked over his desk and caught her eye, she held his gaze for a few seconds before letting her foot off the brake and allowing her intimidating vehicle to slowly roll past the building.

When she was out of sight of the guard, and the many cameras that encircled the building, she gunned the gas and roared into the darkened city streets before heading back to her condo to call it a night.

She of course didn't really expect to catch Jordan doing anything nefarious in his corporate headquarters, but her nightly visits were more about letting him know she was watching him than anything else. Oh sure, he wouldn't actually be there to see her drive by, but she was sure he'd get a briefing on her visit the next morning. And that was more than enough to let Natalie sleep soundly.

That still left the bigger problem for her to solve though, because as much as she was sure Jordan Kepler was up to no good, she had yet to find any proof. That hadn't stopped her though, and she'd been waging a war in the media against him for the last six months which had shot her profile in the hero community through the roof. She'd only been "heroing" for a little over a year, and in the first six months she'd been unable to even break into the local news let alone the national.

That had changed when allegations against Jordan had surfaced, at first they hadn't gained any traction, mostly the standard kind of things for a wealthy bachelor. An unhappy ex claiming kinky things in the bedroom, a fired ex-employee claiming discrimination, etc. They'd all been debunked, but before they had she'd managed to get her face in front of a national reporter and given them a sound bite that had made headlines.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to take advantage of the situation and so she'd taken every opportunity since to badmouth him and the media had eaten it up. The problem was though that even her most ardent supporters were starting to grumble about the lack of evidence against him.

That wasn't going to stop her of course, he was her golden goose, that had taken her from yet another unknown hero to a national figure. Besides which, she knew it was only going to be a matter of time before she, or someone else, found the evidence of his wrongdoing.

She rounded the corner towards her building and quickly selected the cloaking mode of her vehicle. The air around it shimmered and distorted for a moment until the image of a nondescript SUV appeared in its place. A few minutes later she had parked, changed into her street clothing and was riding the elevator up to her waiting bed.

* * *

Natalie rolled over and slammed her hand on her alarm clock, but the noise continued and through her grogginess she realized it was her phone and not the damned clock. She blinked several times, clearing the sleep from her eyes as she stared at the time, 1 pm, an ungodly hour if she ever heard of one.

Grabbing her phone and swiping to answer she muttered, "Hello?", before turning over and silently cursing whoever was calling.

"Val! Val! Wake up! Turn on your TV, you have to see this!" Natalie recognized Emerald Vixen's voice perked up. Rolling back over she swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, almost losing her balance in the process.

"I'm up! I'm up! What is it?" Natalie replied as she stomped out of her bedroom to the living room, still only in the underwear she wore to bed. Her strong legs carried her quickly to the remote and turned on the TV.

"It's Jordan Kepler, he's making some kind of big announcement."

Natalie blinked, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes as the TV came to life, the news channel that was the only channel she ever watched, displaying a podium and a scrolling line of text below announcing the event. She scanned the screen for any details, but none were given.

"What do you think it is Emm? Think he's finally going to tell the truth?" Natalie asked as she continued to focus on the TV.

"Don't know, but I knew you'd want to watch." Emerald Vixen replied as Jordan, a woman and a third man stepped in to frame and towards the podium.

Jordan stepped to the microphone and cleared his throat, "Welcome and thank you for coming. As you know, I've grown my company, Kepler Industries, into one of the largest companies in the world. I've spent years of my life dedicated to the simple proposition of improving everyone's life through technology.

Today, I'm announcing new leadership for the company I founded, leadership that will take it into the great future I know it has.

As such, I will be stepping down as CEO and day to day operations, and without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Kelsey Monroe, the new CEO of Kepler Industries."

Jordan stepped aside and the woman behind him stepped forward to take the podium.

"I can't believe it! He can't do that!" Natalie cried into the phone.

"What? What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? I mean you beat him... he's running away!" Emerald Vixen asked.

"But he didn't admit to anything! He's just going to disappear from the limelight and hide in the background! The bastard!" Natalie screamed and then threw her phone across the room, her enhanced strength easily embedding it into the wall.

* * *

Valiant Guardian cruised through the streets of the city, her pitch-black armour-plated vehicle looking out of place in the bright sunlight of the afternoon sun. She sped around the corner, bringing Kepler Tower in to view and she pulled up right in front of it, blocking a lane of traffic, but paying it no mind.

She opened her door and stepped out into the daylight, her similarly black outfit, hugged her body and provided little protection against the heat of the sun, which wasn't normally a problem. Today, beads of sweat were forming along her dark black hairline.

Storming towards the building, she burst through the door, sending them shuttering on their hinges as she stomped her way up to the security desk. The confused, almost panicked eyes of the rent-a-cop sitting behind it almost made her smile... almost.

"I'm here to see Jordan Kepler..." she said and the guard started to open his mouth but before he could even start his sentence, she continued, "...NOW!" she said, slamming her fist on the counter and cracking it.

Before the guard could do anything, the phone beside him rang and he held up a finger to her nervously and answered it, looking for any kind of lifeline.

"Hello?" he asked, "Yes... yes of course. Right away Sir!"

He turned back to her and gave a nervous smile, "He will see you right away ma'am. Go right up to the thirtieth floor." he said and waved towards the bank of elevators.

She didn't respond and went directly to the first one that was open. Stabbing at the button, it broke, but the doors closed and the elevator started moving upwards as the muzak played over the speakers in it. It wasn't long before she stepped out of the elevator and into the main lobby of Jordan's office. There was no one at the receptionist's desk and so she moved quickly by it and into his expansive office.

"Ah, Valiant Guardian, so nice to see you. Did you catch my press conference by chance?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't know what game you're playing at, but it won't work Jordan!" she replied, her teeth gritted and her eyes narrow. As always he was well dressed in a suit, tailored to fit perfectly. He cut an impressive figure, getting older sure, but still in good shape and with a boyish grin that would disarm most.

"No game VG, I'm just tired of the spotlight that's all. It's time to let other's be the public face of the company." he replied with a shrug.

"Ah-ha! So you're still going to run things behind the scenes, right!" she cried accusingly.

"You got me VG, I'm still going to own the company and be interested in how it's run." he said, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated fashion.

"Look, I was hoping you'd see reason and let this go, but that doesn't seem likely. But I still have to try, right?"

"What are you talking about Jordan?" she replied, raising an eyebrow as she did.

"Look, you've been harassing me for months with baseless claims of some kind of wrongdoing. I thought, perhaps, if I stepped out of the spotlight you might take a step back as well."

"That's never going to happen, I'm going to keep digging until I find out what your hiding!"

"I was afraid you'd say that. Ok, well then you leave me little choice..." he said and stood up from behind his desk, walking around it until he was standing just a few feet in front of her.

"We can do this two ways, the easy way, or the hard way." he continued.

"Oh, it's going to be the hard way for you Jordan, that's for sure." she replied, a smile coming across her lips.

"Well, I'd prefer you choose the easy way quite honestly."

"And what's that?"

"The easy way is that you'll leave here and make a public apology, retracting what you've said, and promising to leave me alone in the future." he replied.

"That doesn't sound like something I'd do... and the hard way?" she said, shaking her head and tapping her finger on her chin.

"I'll file a lawsuit for defamation of character and sue you for every penny you will ever earn." he replied coldly, the boyish grin gone from his lips.

"Go ahead you have no chance, you can't sue a superhero!"

"I figured you'd say that..." he replied, reaching into his suit pocket and pulling something out.

"Valiant Guardian, you've been severed." he said handing her a folded piece of paper and before she realized it she'd taken it from him.

* * *

Natalie was fuming and Emerald Vixen wasn't helping at all.

"Well, what did you expect Val?" EV said.

"A lawsuit though!?! I mean... a lawsuit really?" Natalie said, waving the paper around in the air.

"Yeah, well, he's a businessman. He deals with flesh-eating lawyers all day long and I imagine has quite a few on retainer as well."

"But... how... I mean... he doesn't know my secret identity, how can he sue me?"

"Even I don't know your secret id Val, but what does that have to do with anything. Haven't you ever heard of the movie studios going after file shares without knowing their names?"

Natalie stopped pacing mid-stride, "No... no, they can do that Emm?" she asked, sounding less sure of herself.

"They can, they do, and they even win sometimes. How can't you have known this?" EV replied, rolling her eyes as she did.

Natalie flopped down on the couch in one of the lounge areas of The Secret Club, one of the few places superheroes could meet and not be concerned about privacy or other things. It was neutral ground and both sides abided by it.

Emm was sitting across from her, her vaguely cat-based costume a mixture of black and browns that had never made much sense to Natalie. Emm was about the only friend Natalie had in the hero community, and even she was starting to show signs of being fed up with her.

"I don't know Emm, but thanks for putting up with my venting." Natalie said and smiled at Emm.

"So, what am I going to do now?"

"Do what everyone does when they get sued... get a lawyer!"

* * *

Natalie sat across from yet another lawyer, the third one today and the third day in a row she had done so. It wasn't that she was picky or cheap, it was that each and every single one of them had turned her down. Most for the obvious reason that they didn't want to get involved in a high profile case, especially involving Jordan Kepler.

Though that wasn't completely accurate, she had turned one down herself, he had given off a real bottom-feeder vibe to her and seemed almost too eager to take the case, and so she'd moved on. She had two more today after this one, even if he turned out to be willing to take her case.

"I just need someone to put an end to this stupidity and beat Jordan Kepler for me." she said, half exasperatedly, just wanting it to be over, but also half pleadingly that someone would take up the fight with her.

"Look Valiant Guardian," he started to respond.

"Call me Val." she interjected before he continued.

"Alright Val, I can take your case, but I have to be honest, you have little hope of winning it."

Natalie raised an eyebrow, it was a different response than she'd gotten so far at least, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've pretty much painted yourself into a corner I'm afraid. I mean there are hours and hours of video of you making, what any judge or jury would agree, are defaming remarks about Mr. Kepler. Many of which you make clear that you don't care if there is proof or not, you just 'know' it's true."

"Well, Mr.... Donald," she replied, double-checking his name, "that's not a very inspiring statement about your defence... if I hire you that is."

He smiled a bit, "Call me Jim and I think you're going to hire me... let me guess, you've been to a dozen other lawyers before me? How many more are on your list? Doesn't really matter, I doubt you'll find anyone willing to take your case other than me."

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

"Because Jordan Kepler does business with just about every law firm in the city. And even if he doesn't hire them directly, they probably get hired to do work by the ones that he does hire on a piecemeal basis. And as much as lawyers will do just about anything if you pay their fees, the one thing they won't do is kill the golden goose."

"So what do you suggest then if you can't win? Why would I spend my money on a loser?"

"Because there's losing and then there's losing. I can do everything in my power to make sure you land as softly as possible from this fall. We can start by seeing if he'd be willing to settle out of court..."

"Humf, that's unlikely, I think I already burnt that bridge."

"Well, I guess that's not too surprising. Then our next strategy would be to gain as much jury sympathy as possible."

She nodded her head and considered it, "Well, I do have two more firms to visit, but can I let you know tomorrow?"

"Of course, I'll clear some time for the next few months for you."

She stood up and smirked a little, "That confident they'll turn me down?"

"Yep." he replied and held out his hand. She shook it and re-evaluated the man. Perhaps things would work out alright.

* * *

Things were a disaster!

Jordan had brought out every trick in the book, demolishing every last defence they tried against him.

And just as Jim had predicted, she'd lost.

She didn't blame Jim of course, he'd always been straight forward with her and gave her honest evaluations of how they were doing throughout the trial. It was just that, just as he predicted, she'd buried herself before the trial had even started. The jury had taken just 5 minutes to come back and give a guilty verdict.

Now as Natalie and Jim sat in his office, there was nothing left to do but wait for the judge to award damages.

"So, what happens next?" she asked.

"Well, the judge will likely grant Kepler's motion to treat each incident as a separate defamation, and then assign some kind of monetary value to each one. I'd guess somewhere in the mid-tens of thousands of dollars.

Which means a final judgment in the millions. If you're unlucky he'll also deem the defamations as malicious and triple the damages."

"Ok, but how do they collect it? I mean they can't force me to reveal my secret identity can they?"

"No, the 32nd amendment guarantees your anonymity, so no worries there. But if you don't pay they can come after you for contempt of court and put you in jail until you do."

"What if... what if I can't pay it? I do have money, but not *millions* just laying around you know?"

"Well there is no other *legal* advice I can give... but if I'm off the clock?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, then your only other option would be to retire."

"WHAT?"

"You know, retire. Put Valiant Guardian down and no longer appear in public. I mean, if they can't find you, they can't do much about it." Jim replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Natalie slumped her shoulders and shook her head, knowing he was right but not liking it none the less.

"But, as your lawyer, and friend, do the right thing. Pay the judgment or do whatever else you have to to stay on the right side of the law." he said and she nodded in reply, knowing full well that was unlikely to be an option for her.

* * *

Natalie watched the news as she slumped in her couch, "And still no word from Valiant Guardian since she disappeared after the 23 million dollar verdict was handed down by the judge in her defamation suit. I think it's safe to say we've heard the last of her Tony."

It had been only a month since the verdict and the public had turned on her. Even her staunchest defenders had left her when she disappeared, unable to reconcile her actions with the image she had always projected. And now, even the media was losing interest. This had been the first report she'd seen on herself in almost 6 days.

She let out a sigh and turned the TV off, it was just about 10 pm, just when she should be getting out there and roaming the streets, but that was impossible now. Perhaps in a few more years she could take up a new identity and start over... but perhaps not.

A frown came to her face as she recalled Emerald Vixen's disgust when Natalie had told her what her plan was. Natalie had tried to break it to her easily, but there really wasn't any way to do that and in the end Emm had stormed out of The Secret Club and blocked her number.

But perhaps the worst part of it was the time. Natalie had dedicated years of her young life to being a hero and now... what was she going to do?

It wasn't like she needed to work, or that she would have been able to get a job anyway with no experience. After all putting "superhero" on a resume wasn't something she could do. Perhaps she could get a job as a personal trainer, she was in top physical form, or perhaps as private security, but pandering to the rich seemed like a slap in the face to her.

She involuntarily shuttered at the thought as the memory of the poor rent-a-cop sitting in the lobby of Kepler Tower popped into her head.

With nothing else to do, she got up off the couch and headed to bed, perhaps something would come to her after yet another good night's sleep.

As she slept, even her enhanced hearing would not have picked up the inaudible sound of the gas filling her room.

* * *

Natalie groaned as she came around from the effects of the gas, she recognized it instantly and jerked out of pure reflex, even before her eyes opened. She heard the groan of the metal bonds that held her down to the chair she was seated in, but they did not break.

"Ah, good, I'm glad your awake Natalie." Jordan Kepler's voice said as it filled the brightly-lit room.

She peeled her eyes open to see him standing in front of her, dressed in a suit and tie as always.

"Where am I? What's going on? I knew you were up to no good, you won't get away with this!" she spoke with more confidence than she felt, but it wasn't the first time she'd been captured.

And then her mind caught up with what was he had said and her mouth dropped open and her face went white.

"Ah, there it is. You know you superhero's put all your faith in the 32nd amendment, but always forget that the restrictions on identifying a hero only applies to the government. Not private individuals." he said shaking his head.

"Oh don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy, or cheap, but it was doable."

"How... how long have you know?" she asked, slightly deflated.

"Oh, I started having you investigated after that interview you gave calling me 'the worst person possible to have living in our city'. It took a few weeks after that, so maybe 3 months now? That sounds about right."