Not So Super After All Pt. 01

[NOTE: This is NOT a reflection of the author's actual beliefs, this is a fantasy written within the bounds of fiction. It is also partly inspired by a certain TV series, but it is not using the characters from that story]

Her muscles were screaming as she pushed herself to add another ten reps to her usual routine. Let nobody say that Celeste Lambert was a woman who accepted limitations.

The 32-year-old finished the last of her morning exercise, dressed down in just a sports bra and shorts. It was one of the many benefits of having her own private gym that she could dress down and work on herself. Plus, she didn't have to worry about people's reactions to any new bruises or scrapes across her body.

As Halestorm raged in her ears, Celeste sensed that she was nearing a wall. 'Finish with the song,' she thought as she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the burning sensation in her arms. She'd recently bought a new set of weights to push herself, and she clearly needed more time to get used to it.

As she worked out, she stared forward, straight into the mirror. Whenever she worked out, Celeste always reached a level of consciousness where she swore that she was looking at a stranger rather than herself. She could never figure out why, but if she looked long enough, she was almost taken aback at how she seemed to step outside of herself, seeing herself as other people must surely see her. She never talked about it with anyone, but those moments helped her stay focused on who she wanted to be and what she wanted to achieve.

As always, Celeste found herself looking at a young woman at her physical peak; she was taller than average, and while she was not burly or bulky, nobody could deny her fitness. Nobody even needed to see her arms or legs to recognise how toned she was. She imagined many people who looked at her would bypass her muscles, however, to focus on her ass or her pronounced bust, but Celeste had never been a pushover; if someone gave her trouble, she made them regret it.

Finally, the song ended, and she paused to look at herself a little longer. Her brown hair, shorn down almost to a buzz cut, was darker than usual, and her skin shone under the lights.

She struggled to slow her breathing as she dropped her weights on the matted floor and picked up her water bottle. By the time her personal assistant entered the gym, the bottle was drained.

"Just a reminder, Ms. Lambert," Alicia called out, "You've got a meeting with Olivia Saunder at 3 PM."

"Thank you," Celeste said curtly; it wasn't Alicia's intrusion which irritated her, nor the person she was supposed to meet; Celeste greatly admired Olivia as a worthy choice for District Attorney; unlike the previous DA, Olivia shared Celeste's concerns over Jeremy Akers.

Jeremy Akers. Just thinking of him made Celeste inconsolably angry, sore as she was from her workout. He had been one of her parents' closest business associates for the last five years of her parents' tragically short lives.

Celeste had just graduated high school when her parents' deaths left her as the sole beneficiary of the Lambert fortune, property, companies, and shares. Despite her youth, Celeste had immediately moved to cut ties with Jeremy in a very bitter spat which had turned fuelled public gossip for months, and had very nearly led to Celeste losing her position with accusations and lawsuits. She had won out, but that wasn't enough for her. Jeremy had always been an amoral and ambitious man, and even the huge setback of losing the Lamberts as partners hadn't been enough to ruin him; he'd bounced back with alarming speed and Celeste was sure that his means weren't legal in the slightest. While society seemed content to treat him as a figure of admiration for his strong business acumen and his shallow jabs at philanthropy, Celeste wasn't fooled. She had heard enough stories about the atmosphere within Jeremy's businesses, noticed enough discrepancies in the past records and accounts of her parents' companies, and most damning of all, had spent enough time with him personally to notice the way he looked at her.

Celeste tried to get Jeremy out of her mind as she showered, got dressed, and went downstairs into the limousine waiting to take her downtown into the city which her family's mansion overlooked.

By the time Celeste walked into the DA's office, she was in a much better mood, largely due to seeing Olivia again. It always amused Celeste how determinedly professional Olivia was concerning her job as DA. For one thing, if anyone in the building happened to look as the youngest and richest CEO in the city shook hands with the District Attorney, one would never guess that they had been in a relationship since college.

Of course, Celeste had been careful to wear something which was socially tasteful, but still showed off her figure. She was proud of her body, and she enjoyed the effect she had on Olivia, especially when she tried so hard to be professional, even refusing to have sex with Celeste in her office.

As well as maintaining a very toned body, Celeste was also curvy, to the point that she could not, much to her frustration, choose to simply not wear a bra in public without drawing too much attention.

"I brought the files you requested," Celeste said as she sat down in the expensive chair which she herself had donated to the DA's office the year before. She took the bulky folder and slid it across Olivia's desk, "I had my accountants organise it for you."

"Good," Olivia replied, carefully examining the first few pages, "There's got to be something here which we can use against him."

Celeste shrugged, "Maybe. I gave it a read and I didn't see anything clear-cut. He was too smart for that."

"You don't always know what to look for," Olivia said absent-mindedly as she continued to read. It was a completely true statement, of course; Celeste herself would have said the same thing, but something about Olivia's tone caused Celeste to speak again.

"There's something else. A new deal happening down at the southern harbour."

This, Celeste noted with more smugness than she'd ever admit, caused Olivia to stop what she was doing and look up again. There was a mix of frustration and concern in her eyes, "I asked you to keep your head down during this investigation."

"And I said I'd think about it," Celeste retorted.

Outside of her personal staff, Olivia was the only person that Celeste trusted with her biggest secret. As often as she could, she spent part of her nights roaming the streets as the being whom the city newspapers had dubbed 'Lady Shadow'.

Even before her parents' deaths, Celeste had been planning to take a personal role in cleaning up her city's less-than-stellar reputation and crime levels. She had designed a costume for herself, produced it in the greatest secrecy, and used it to help her fight against the crime syndicates and corruption wherever she could confront it.

It hadn't taken long for Lady Shadow to catch the attention of the Internet, and social media was soon rife with videos and pictures of Lady Shadow in action. Most looked down on her as a vigilante who needed to be caught, and the police were ironically far more eager to have Lady Shadow arrested than any of the criminals that she targeted.

All of this fuelled Celeste further; bringing down Jeremy Akers was only the beginning; she'd bring down everyone else who was who made the world a worse place. For her part, Olivia had always been too discreet to point out that many of those targets also happened to be the same people who tried to soil Celeste's reputation and her parents' legacy.

"You can't keep doing this!" Olivia declared, "Can you imagine the damage you're risking with this stunt?"

Celeste coolly raised an eyebrow, "You're not going to say I'm risking my life anymore?"

"As if that ever persuades you," Olivia said sourly, "Maybe you might reconsider if you think of how many times you've worked with my office? It's not just your reputation at stake!"

"There's nothing to hide," Celeste retorted.

"You're smarter than that," Olivia's voice was scathing now, "If someone finds out who you are, then that means I lose my job, all my cases get thrown out of court, and Jeremy Akers wins."

Celeste stood up, glaring down at Olivia, "He's already winning, in case you hadn't noticed! Every day that he's not in a jail cell is another day he's won! I've waited long enough. It's about time Lady Shadow tries her luck."

Olivia's eyes widened for a moment, and she looked around to make sure nobody was in earshot.

"Oh give it a rest," Celeste sighed, "You came to me for your court case, and I gave you the files you requested. I'm cooperating with the authorities, that's all! And even if they find out about us," here she couldn't help smiling mischievously, 'that doesn't mean you're going to lose your job."

Olivia leaned back in her chair. She had never been able to get used to Celeste's stubbornness and her dominance, but while such dominance was an absolute thrill to experience in bed, Olivia found herself unable to change Celeste's mind.

"When is this deal? Where are you going to be?" Olivia asked, though she knew it was useless to ask.

Celeste gave a small snort of laughter and made for the door while puckering her lips in a silent kiss. As always, Olivia refused to acknowledge the gesture and simply walked her girlfriend out of her office.

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The dank air over the lake filled Jeremy Akers' lungs, even as he stepped out of the car and casually strolled over to the one street lamp on the block which was still lit. Around him strode three bodyguards, all of them former military-turned-mercenaries. They were all carrying concealed guns, but Jeremy didn't expect those to be necessary.

The southern harbours were part of what was agreed to be the most sordid part of the city. Most of the docks were in disuse or disrepair, as were half the buildings which lined that part of the city's border. The police had always made efforts to clean the streets up, but at best these efforts were empty gestures, and at worst were called out for being attacks on poor people.

Lady Shadow had made a difference, arguably, ever since her first appearance. Of course, such a subject was argued fiercely across the city. For his part, Jeremy was convinced that Lady Shadow couldn't have shown up at a worse time, as she seemed utterly hell-bent on sabotaging his operations. Luckily, he was able to buy the silence of those who were caught by Lady Shadow, and even those whom she hospitalised.

Jeremy knew he couldn't keep it up forever, though, especially not while the DA was acting like Celeste Lambert's whipped pet, which she doubtless was in every sense. Jeremy had first met her when she was 18, and he had always known that they would loathe each other. And that, of course, had always made things personal.

For now, however, Jeremy wasn't thinking about Celeste; he was thinking of Lady Shadow, and whether she would be coaxed out of a long hiatus to try and bring him down. He certainly hoped that he wasn't making this journey for nothing.

It hadn't taken him too long to realise that only he himself could be sufficient bait for Lady Shadow to show up. And so he had also arranged for his personal security teams to set an elaborate trap for her. They had studied online footage of her, as well as police reports to figure out her tactics and patterns.

Jeremy pretended to scratch his ear to adjust the clear earpiece, through which his top lieutenant fed him reports, "Any sign of her?"

"Still quiet, over."

Jeremy sighed, and took off his jacket in the soft summer evening. Usually the lake provided a steady breeze of cool air, but a recent heat wave meant that even the evenings felt more humid than usual.

A sudden pair of lights caught Jeremy's attention; a large truck and several cars were slowly making their way to the parking lot where Jeremy and his guards were standing. This was part of the fake deal; Jeremy had hoped that he wouldn't need to carry out the full charade, but he was willing to go through with anything if it meant getting his hands on the elusive Lady Shadow.

Even as the drivers began exiting their vehicles, Jeremy froze. One of the observers on the roofs had spoken again.

"Target visual. Repeat. Target visual."

Jeremy almost smiled as he turned off his earpiece; he didn't need to hear the plan's co-ordinations from here. The trap would be sprung.

Forcing himself to look cold and distrustful, Jeremy shook the hand of the truck driver. He didn't imagine Lady Shadow would ever realise that the truck driver happened to be his uncle as well.

*** *** *** ***** **** *** **********

Celeste stood before the mirror, trying to view herself from afar. She didn't see herself; she saw Lady Shadow, wearing her suit, which included a long black cape and a black mask which was fitted closely to her skull almost like latex, and which covered all of her head except her eyes, lower jaw and nose. Her costume was designed in dark greys and hues, the colour of so many buildings in the city.

Putting her outfit together had been a very humbling process to her morals and ego. She had clashed with her parents on several subjects, but the biggest had been their continued investment in the military. Much to her frustration, this investment had provided the perfect alibi for her to anonymously order a special suit for herself which was lightweight yet durable, bullet-proof without slowing her down, and designed to blend in with the shadows.

She made her way to the basement garage, where she kept a car that had been specially designed by Olivia's brother-in-law, George. Nobody else had ever seen the car in Celeste's possession, and everybody had forgotten about the tunnel which Celeste's grandfather had ordered along with the basement garage to make a discreet place to park. All Celeste had needed to do was ensure that the tunnel's entrance was carefully disguised and she had a discreet route home.

The car was parked for now, and she herself walked down alleyways, hugging the buildings in an act of camouflage.

She had always been known for her athletics during school; she had also spent years training in various forms of martial arts and had undertaken a few crash courses in combat training as part of her scholarship. She had once even considered the military as a possible future, but she'd thankfully been cured of that delusion quickly enough thanks to the disgusting culture of the college's military branch.

Celeste made her way to the spot where she'd overheard was the new deal which Jeremy Akers himself would be overseeing. It seemed like he was finding it harder and harder to pay other people to do his dirty work, she thought smugly.

She crept over to a nook in one of the buildings, standing still within the shadow. She didn't know how long she waited, but eventually she saw a limousine slowly amble down the road towards the parking lot which jutted out over the lake.

'He only brought three men with him,' Lady Shadow thought to herself as she watched Jeremy and his guards exit the parked vehicle.

She left her hiding spot, but she couldn't help thinking about what Olivia had said to her when they'd last seen each other. Beating Jeremy wasn't enough; taking away his money and his reputation would truly break him down once and for all. It was a lesson in humility that she was only too happy to give him. Now she took out a camera which was untraceable to herself, ready to film Jeremy Akers acting like the criminal scum that he was.

She wavered on where she should go to take her video, until she saw the approaching vehicles. She approached one of the abandoned warehouses and scaled up to the roof, which had a perfect view of the crime scene as it was unfolding. 'Got you now,' she thought to herself.

She was still turning the camera on when a pair of muscular, sweaty hands grabbed her from behind, one hand covering her mouth and another resting over where her breasts were covered by the suit.

"MMMM!" Celeste was too shocked for a moment to do anything, but before she could recover herself, another man appeared in front of her, grinning he sent a knee swinging towards her, making contact with her suit just over her stomach.

The suit took most of the knee's damage, but it still drove the wind from Celeste as she felt her strength and reflexes fail her. But only for a moment.

The man in front of her had time to grab one of her arms before Celeste's kick sent him sprawling with a curse, and the man gagging her was quickly flung over Celeste's shoulders and lay beside his companion.

Large lights turned on all at once, from several of the buildings around the warehouse. Celeste panicked, unsure of where to retreat and regroup, and bolted for one of the fire escape ladders. She swung her way back down to the ground, where they were already waiting for her.

No sooner did her feet land on the ground than four or five men rushed her from every side. Hands gripped her arms, her torso, her face. Celeste managed to keep her footing, but no matter how much she writhed her body, and no matter how many times she broke their grip, the men continued to stop her from getting away. They weren't even bothering to pull off her mask or cape, they were simply focused on restraining her.

'I fell for a trap,' she kept thinking, 'I can't believe I actually fell for a trap...'

"Hold her!" someone shouted as one of her arms was - with great effort - pulled behind her back.

"MMMPHHH!" Celeste knew she was in serious trouble, but she couldn't bite the hand covering her mouth and shout for help. She flailed with her right arm until three hands finally grabbed it as well. Other men were running forward, laughing and shouting encouragement. Celeste's eyes widened behind her mask as she saw what those men were carrying.

Another hard kick went to her stomach and Celeste fell foward with a muffled grunt. Now on her knees, she could do little to stop the men forcing her arms behind her back and tying them together with shackles and rope. A dirty rag was thrust into her mouth while she gasped for air, and another, smellier one was tied over her lips for good measure. Men grouped around her.

"Remember me, bitch?" a voice called out, just before a load of spit landed on Celeste's face. She growled and snarled, tried to get her arms free, but it only provoked laughter.

"Not so tough now!" hands were grabbing at her suit, trying to pry it off her, looking for the release was. Celeste shrieked into her gag, terrified what would happen, especially when they tore her mask off.

"Well done!" came a joyful shout.

Her eyes watering, Celeste stared up at Jeremy Akers as he loomed up over her, smiling broadly and clapping his hands together. Fear was coursing wildly through her body, but she also felt rage. She tried to force herself up on her feet, but the men forced her down and she felt her ankles secured with a short spreader-bar.

"Too bad, superhero," Jeremy taunted, "Guess you're not so super after all"

It would have been a laughably corny line if it if it wasn't for the fact that Celeste was utterly helpless, under his power as his men began tearing off parts of her suit. No matter how much she squirmed and struggled, no matter how hard her muscles bulged, she was utterly helpless, much to her fear and her rage.

It wasn't long before hands pulled her ample breasts out into the open, squeezing them and pulling on her nipples. The worst part was that she recognised a few of the men groping her as men whom she'd previously trounced in combat, and now they had captured her in less than ten minutes. The realisation galled her as much as being stripped down. She shook her head furiously, "YOOMPH FFOMMPHU RUMMPH!"