How to Date a Superhero Ch. 02

Gateway City, a vast metropolis, held many attractions for its citizens and visiting tourists both. Like many American cities it was a melting pot of culture catering to nearly any interest. People traveled to the city from all corners of the world to see its museums, art galleries, parks, theaters, and concert halls. The Keppler Building boasted the highest view possible in the Midwest, dwarfing the skyscrapers of nearby St. Louis. Gateway City hosted professional teams in each of the major sports, including two Major League baseball franchises, along with several minor-league teams. In those respects Gateway City was no different from New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. But Gateway City did offer one thing no other city in the world could boast...

More giant robots per-capita than anywhere else on earth.

"Aw, crap," Mega-Girl grumbled as she flew high over the city. "Not another giant robot."

The steel behemoth was no less than twenty stories in height, with legs and arms the size of tanker trucks. A massive cannon was mounted on each shoulder and it was shooting laser beams out of its lone eye - melting any approaching police cars. Fortunately there weren't any pedestrians in the area; the robot was lumbering and slow, giving people time to flee.

It 'spoke' from a large speaker in its mouth, remotely transmitting the voice of its master.

"...bzzzt...citizens of Gateway City! Behold the power of the Robot Master! You have no hope of defying me! Your police cannot defend you ...bzzzt... against the power of my Cyclops Mark II robot. It is my greatest creation...bzzzt..."

Mega-Girl thrust her fists forward, angling her flight into the robot's path. Its destination was obvious given the wake of destruction behind it: Claremont Bridge – the city's main access over the Mississippi River.

She feared for the S.W.A.T. van approaching from First Avenue as the robot's eye turned towards the vehicle and began to glow bright green. Like a streak of crimson, Mega-Girl flew into the path of the robot's laser and intercepted the blast with her own body.

"Uhn!" she grunted as the force of the beam hurled her towards the street. She slammed into the roof of a parked taxi cab, crushing the sedan in a violent impact of shattering glass and wrinkling metal. Thankfully no one was inside.

"...bzzzt...Mega-Girl! You DARE defy the Robot Master!?! Not even you can stop Cyclops Mark II! ...bzzzt... People of Gateway City - your protectors are powerless to stop me! ...bzzzt... I demand that the city's stores of plutonium be turned over to me immediately; otherwise I will destroy you all! ...bzzzt...I'll start with the Claremont Bridge and its innocent rush-hour commuters. None are safe! ...bzzzt..."

Mega-Girl peeled her petite form from the steel wreckage of the taxi and dusted herself off. When she turned her attention back to the robot she saw its shoulder cannons taking aim, "Oh, shi-"

They fired simultaneously with a thunderous boom. The entire street around Mega-Girl was engulfed in a massive explosion of fire and smoke. Nearby building windows shattered from the force of the blast and it triggered car alarms as far as ten blocks away.

"...bzzzt...hahahahahah! You see? No one can defy the Robot Master! Not even Mega-Girl, your most powerful hero can protect you! You must meet my demands or face imminent destruction...bzzzt..."

It took several long moments for the smoke to finally clear, but when it did Mega-Girl was still standing. Her normally wavy blonde hair was frazzled into a chaotic mess and charcoal-like streaks stained her entire form. She wiped the skin-tight sleeve of her tattered red costume across her mouth, cleaning her lips of soot, and looked up at the robot with an irritated expression.

"My turn," she muttered.

Grabbing the crumpled wreckage of the taxi cab next to her, Mega-Girl lifted it above her head as though it weighed no more than a beach ball. Flexing mega-fueled arms she hurled the makeshift missile directly towards the robot's head.

"...bzzzt...what!? No one could have survived tha-"

The throw was true, knocking the head off the robot and halting the massive colossus. With the robot temporarily staggered, Mega-Girl sprinted forward and grabbed its ankle, digging her hands into its steel flesh. Rending it easily, Mega-Girl pulled with all of her strength. A shower of sparks erupted above her as she pulled the leg from the robot's hip socket. Somehow it was able to maintain its balance, but the robot simply stood unmoving on one foot. With its central brain core removed, which was located in its severed head, the robot was unable to receive any further remote commands.

Mega-Girl took advantage.

Using the tanker-sized leg as a massive club, she swung mightily and took the robot's other leg out from under it. The towering behemoth fell to the street with a thunderous crash! Victorious, she casually tossed the leg on top of the defeated robot's carcass and dusted her gloved hands off against one another.

MG? MG, can you hear me?

Mega-Girl lifted her hand and was surprised the blue-tooth device at her ear had survived the earlier explosion. "I'm here, Harbinger," she replied.

I'm getting reports of a giant robot downtown.

Mega-Girl looked herself over to make sure she was still decent. Her spandex was full of tears and blackened from the robot's cannons, but at least her naughty parts remained covered, "Yeah, I just trashed it. I ruined another costume, though."

We're going to have to start buying them in bulk. Are you okay?

"I'm fine. Start looking into the Robot Master, would you? Dig up whatever you can. I'm going to stick around here for a while and help the authorities clean up. This robot made a huge mess."

Will do, MG. Harbinger out.

Michael Blonsky looked over the artifacts he and his criminal cohorts had stolen from the Gateway City Museum of History several nights prior. They were arranged neatly on wooden pallets within a warrens warehouse owned by Tony Cicero. The artifacts were mostly archeological finds on loan from another museum in Rome, Italy. There were pieces of armor, clay pots, brass statues, and a bow complete with a leather quiver containing two-dozen ancient arrows.

"Hey boss," Blonsky called to his right, where Tony Cicero was seated at a folding table playing cards with Tommy-Gun Harris, Jimmy Collins, and Johnny Figgero.

"Yeah?" Tony called back, arranging some cards in his hand.

"How long are we going to hold on to all this crap? I know a fence on the east side who might -"

"Goddamn it, Blonsky. We're gonna sit on it until Rapture says otherwise."

Blonsky frowned. He didn't like the fact that Rapture, a masked super-villain, was calling the shots. But what could Blonsky do? She was seemingly able to control the emotions of anyone she encountered and had her claws deep into Tony Cicero. Blonsky had experienced her power first-hand and knew its potency. In a matter of days she had taken control over four of the top gangsters in Gateway City, and killed a fifth – Neon Thomas, consolidating them into her own personal crew.

"I can't believe that bitch has us sitting here guarding this crap like common thugs," Johnny Figgero remarked, discarding a card and drawing another.

"Shaddup," Jimmy Collins said. "She might hear you. You want to end up like Neon?"

"All of you pipe down," Tony ordered. "Rapture says this junk is important for her plan to kill Mega-Girl and that we gotta guard it. So that's what we're gonna do, goddamn it."

Tommy-gun Harris suddenly slammed his cards down on the folding table, "Gin, mother-fuckers!"

Jimmy turned an irritated glance towards his cohort, "Harris, you crazy shit. We're playing poker!"

As his superiors began bickering over what card game they were actually playing, Blonsky caught something out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought it was a trick of the sunlight reflecting through one of the high windows, but he quickly realized it was something far more dangerous. An expanding globe of pure light was forming mid-air on the far side of the warehouse. It began pulsing and sizzling.

Blonsky pulled a handgun from the depths of his jacket, "Boss! We got a problem!"

With a brilliant flash the orb of light vanished, leaving a man in its wake. He wore a gleaming golden breastplate and a silvery helmet decorated with a pluming red mohawk. Leather bracers covered the wrists of his muscular arms and a black cingulum – a studded skirt of leather strips – fell halfway down his hulking thighs. Simple sandals adorned his otherwise bare feet and ankles. The man's only other item was a long golden spear he held clutched in his right hand.

"Holy fuckin' shit!" Jimmy stood in panic, sending his chair flying backwards. "It's Apollo!"

"Thieves!" Apollo accused in an angry voice, his face twisted with rage.

Tommy-gun Harris grabbed the machine gun leaning against his chair and spun its barrel towards the Roman hero, "Take this mother-fucker out!"

A hail of sound filled the warehouse as Blonsky, Cicero, Collins, Figgero, and Harris all opened fire, with Harris' tommy-gun by far the noisiest and leading the symphony of death. But the bullets didn't make a dent in Apollo's armor; even the bared portion of his arms and legs seemed impervious to the gangster's onslaught of gunfire.

"Pathetic mortals!" Apollo seethed, "Do you believe thy puny weapons are a match for the God of Light?"

Poising his spear high in the air for a throw, Apollo boomed, "I SAY THEE NAY!!!"

Apollo's spear flew straight and true through the air like a beam of golden light, ripping Johnny Figgero through the chest. The blast hurled his body backwards until the spear impaled itself into a wall ten feet behind him. Johnny's form hung limp and lifeless, the weight of his dead body held aloft by the spear's shaft.

Blonsky dove behind a stack of pallets, hoping Apollo wouldn't kill him next.

Harris screamed in anger, "Die you fuckin' god! Die!" as his machine gun spat its fire.

But the bullets remained ineffective against the approaching fury that was Apollo. The mighty god stalked towards the hollering Harris, bullets bouncing off his gleaming breastplate, until Harris was within reach. Apollo grabbed Harris by the neck, snapping it with a simple flick of his wrist and dropping the crazy gangster to the floor without further regard.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jimmy Collins decided, seeing no hope of victory. He turned and ran.

"Thy flight will not save thee, villain!" Apollo promised, gesturing. His golden spear reappeared within his grasp and Apollo swiftly made a second throw.

Once again Apollo's precision with the weapon was perfect. The spear pierced Jimmy through the back and blasted a spray of blood through the front of the man's chest as it tore through his body.

Tony Cicero wanted nothing to do with that terrible weapon and dropped his gun to the floor in surrender, "I give up! Take wh-whatever you want... it's yours!"

Apollo approached the criminal, his face sneering with anger, "Thy cowardice fills mine nostrils with a putrid stink."

"Please," Tony begged, "Please, just d-don't kill me."

Apollo held out his arm until the golden spear once again reappeared within his grasp, its head and shaft stained with the gore of two kills. "Why should I let thee live?" he asked in a cold tone. "The penalty for thy theft is death for thee and thine."

Blonsky remained hidden behind the stack of pallets, kneeling and shivering with fear. He hoped and prayed that Apollo had lost track of him, listening to every word of his boss' discussion with the vengeful god.

"I-I can give you money," Tony offered desperately. "I have lots of money. You can have some of it... all of it!"

Thrusting his arm forward, Apollo punched his fist through Tony Cicero's chest and ripped his heart out. The god watched as Tony's body fell lifeless to the floor, though his heart remained firmly in Apollo's grasp.

"Keep thy money, mortal. I am satisfied by thy blood."

"Oh thank god!" a woman's voice echoed through the warehouse.

Apollo turned warily towards the voice, dropping Tony's heart. It landed on the concrete floor with a wet smack.

Blonsky was surprised to hear the voice. He turned from his hiding place and peeked through a gap in the stack of wooden pallets. He saw Rapture, though she had traded her mask and lingerie costume for a black cocktail dress. For some reason, her wrists were bound in front of her with rope.

Rapture rushed towards Apollo, mascara-stained tears streaming down her cheeks. "Have you come to save me?" she cried.

"Calm thyself, woman. Were you a prisoner of these thieving dogs?"

"Yes," Rapture nodded desperately. "They kidnapped me. They planned to use me for their pleasure. To rape me!"

Apollo hung his golden spear from a looped harness at his back and reached to untie the rope wrapped around her wrists. As he did so, he took a keen interest in Rapture's beauty. The clingy dress only covered her from chest to hips, baring the remainder of her extremely attractive form. Black hair plummeted past her shoulder blades in the form of tousled ringlets.

"You are safe, mortal." Apollo cast the ropes aside and took Rapture's hand between both of his. "What is thy name?"

"Lauren," Rapture lied. "My name is Lauren Smith."

"A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman. I am Apollo, son of Zeus."

"Oh, thank you Apollo! How will I ever repay you? I owe you my life."

"Allow me to escort thee to safety, Lauren Smith, and let us talk no more of payments. Thy rescue has been my pleasure."

Rapture wiped some tears from her cheek, "I would go anywhere with you. Are you really a god?"

"Aye," Apollo turned and approached the stolen Roman artifacts. He was only interested in two things: the bow and quiver of arrows. He ignored the rest.

"What's that?" Rapture asked in an innocent tone.

"A gift," Apollo explained. "From mine sister, Minerva. I thought this bow lost to history until I heard of their theft on the television news. Now, let us be away and see to thy comfort."

Apollo wrapped an arm around Rapture's waist and in a brilliant flash of light, which mirrored the one heralding his arrival, the pair of them disappeared.

A loud sigh of relief came from behind the stack of pallets; Blonsky realized he had escaped the terrible god's wrath. But he wondered what Rapture's game was. After Apollo's arrival, had she improvised her 'damsel in distress' act in order to survive? Or had she engineered his arrival all along, duping Tony Cicero and the others into stealing the Roman artifacts, knowing the theft would anger Apollo?

It didn't matter - it was over. Blonsky was out of a job, but he was alive and free of the influence of Rapture. Let Apollo have her, he thought. He was done dealing with masks forever.

...I'm over the scene in our Channel 5 traffic chopper and First Avenue is a mess between the Keppler Building and Claremont Bridge. Mega-Girl just left after aiding a clean-up crew to remove the giant robot she defeated a little over an hour ago, but police officers are having to direct the rush-hour snarl since all the traffic lights in the area were destroyed...

Travis turned down the volume on his television and checked the time on his cell phone for the fifth time in two minutes. Penny had agreed to meet him in his dorm room so they could go out for supper but she was over an hour late. He tried calling her cell phone again but it went straight to voice mail. As Travis hung up his cell and let out a worried sigh there came a knock on his dorm room door.

He practically leapt towards the sound. "Penny!" Travis exclaimed, relieved to see her standing in the doorway.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she apologized. "I was on a bus downtown and there was this huge superhero fight and a big explosion and -"

"I know," Travis nodded, inviting her in. "I've been watching it on the news. Channel 5 got coverage of the whole thing."

Penny followed Travis into his room and looked towards the television; it was replaying footage of the fight.

"There was this humungous robot," Travis described, "It tried to blow up Mega-Girl with these gigantic cannons. The explosion was unbelievable and Mega-Girl took a direct hit. I was really worried about her."

Penny glanced at Travis with a jealous expression, "You were worried abouther? Travis, she's bullet-proof."

"Well, yeah, but did you see the size of that robot? It was fucking gigantic and it was melting cars with its eye."

"So?"

"So, I thought it was pretty amazing the way Mega-Girl beat the crap out of it and -"

"Travis!" Penny interrupted him jealously, "I was downtown too, you know; stuck on a city bus. The explosion shattered all the windows and glass was everywhere. But you haven't even asked if I was hurt or how I am. I'm your girlfriend, but the only thing you seem to care about is Mega-Girl!"

Travis blinked, realizing she was right, "I'm sorry, I -"

"Do you have a crush on her?" she demanded to know.

"What? No -"

"I know she saved your life and everything, she's ultra-beautiful, and she can juggle Volkswagens. I get it. What guy wouldn't fall completely in love with her?"

Travis tried to squeeze a word in, "I'm not in love wi-"

"I'm not going to be your second choice, Travis. I won't." Penny started talking fast, "I know we've only been going out for a few days and I don't want to be that annoying, clingy girlfriend but we've already had a really dirty sexual encounter and I feel like we have something special, you know? So if you'd rather be with Mega-Girl, you have to tell me now so that you don't completely break my heart in a few months."

Travis wasn't sure how to respond to everything Penny had thrown at him. He stood staring at her for several moments.

Penny pushed the rim of her glasses up the ridge of her nose and took an expectant breath, "Well?"

Travis finally spoke, "I thought you liked that our sexual encounter was dirty?"

Penny grinned and a hint of pink colored her cheeks as she realized how much she was overreacting.

He reached for the television remote and turned off the news coverage, "Do you want to have another dirty sexual encounter?"

Penny's grin grew into a full-blown smile that lit up the room, "Yes, but I have to eat first. I'm starving! Let's get some pizza."

"You're on," Travis fetched a light jacket from his closet. "I know the best pizza place in the city and it's right off-campus."

Penny slipped her hand into his as they walked out into the hall. "Thanks," she said.

Travis glanced at her as he locked the door, "For what?"

"For letting me act all jealous and clingy and not making a big stink about it."

Travis shrugged, "It's no big deal. My high school girlfriend never got jealous and she ended up cheating on me."

The pair of them walked towards the stairway together, Penny hanging onto Travis' arm with both of her hands.

"She cheated on you? What a bitch...."

Looking out of a floor-to-ceiling window Rapture couldn't help but be impressed by the view of downtown Gateway City, "Your condo is amazing."

"Verily," Apollo agreed.

After teleporting from the warehouse, Apollo brought Rapture to a condominium apartment on the 60th floor of the Keppler Building. It was a spacious affair with expensive carpeting, papered walls, and stained wooden trim. The furniture was leather and the outer living room walls were all made of glass, offering the panoramic view Rapture was enjoying.

"Do you live here?" she asked. "This is your home?"

"I have many such abodes," Apollo replied as he unstrapped his armor and began removing it. "New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Moscow, Paris...."