Valiant Valkyrie vs the Boarman 04

Valiant Valkyrie vs the Boarman Part 4: The Trap

Our Story Thus Far: Valiant Valkyrie pursued the evil villainess Rude Ruby, only to be ambushed and defeated by her gang, the Dark Prizm. Now, she finds herself in the city of Broodhaven, the domain of her hated rival the mysterious Boarman. Acting on a hunch Valkyrie, along with her friends Daring Diva and the Sun Idol, decided that the Dark Prizm's next move would be to go to the notorious Hyboria Hysterium in search of a suitable super-female to impregnate with their stolen sperm. Getting a tour from the prison's warden they located what they think is the Prizm's target: the comatose and imprisoned Chinese goddess known as Jiutian Xuannu aka the Dark Lady. Sneaking back into the prison hospital after their tour the three superheroines re-entered the sleeping goddess's room - only for their cackling foes to immediately call in over the intercom to taunt them. Then the power went out, releasing the captive war goddess from her slumber...

Linguistic and Cultural Note: within this story, I frequently use the first half of Jiutian Xuannu's name as effectively her shortened name or nickname. Since that's actually a title, and has a literal meaning, that may read very oddly to actual Chinese speakers. But I found it flowed a lot better for me in terms of sounds than using either the second half by itself or the full title every time. Apologies if it comes off as weird. Also, for a whole lot else, probably!

General Notes: Any resemblance of medical procedures depicted herein to actual medical practice is purely coincidental. All characters appearing within this chapter are over the age of eighteen. To say the least, in a couple cases.

Slowly, as Valkyrie and her two friends watched in stunned disbelief, the ancient Chinese goddess sat up before them. Reaching up, she seized the now-useless gas mask and tore it off. Then, she looked down at the various IV's sprouting out of her limbs. She frowned, her otherwise flawless brow furrowing beneath the nine jade dragons that sprouted from her elaborately-coiled hair. Reaching down, she seized them by the tubing and yanked them all right out of her.

Daring Diva winced, in sympathetic agony, to see this. But no blood or gore emerged along with the suddenly-extracted needles. Instead, within seconds the alabaster-pale flesh where the intravenous feeds had been inserted into her was just as smooth and flawless as the rest of her.

Swinging her legs over, the divine beauty put them down on the floor. She stood up - slightly shakily at first, the only hint of a human reaction she had shown to date - but seemed rapidly to find her footing. She turned to face the three superheroines, and stared at them.

They stared back. Jiutian Xuannu's eyes were enormous, and pure jet black from one end to the other. A phosphorescent cinnabar mist continued to rise up around her, from a ring about her feet, as she stood nude before them.

Looking down, Jiutian seemed to observe her own bare flesh. Save for that she was a little more lithe of build, she was a match for any of the three heroines in the inhuman perfection of her proportions. But still, the sight of her nakedness seemed to displease her. Turning her head, she saw the ancient Chinese gown - pure white but adorned with glowing pearls and elaborate embroidery in nine different colors, with the embroidery forming the pattern of kingfisher feathers - hanging upon a rack nearby.

Lifting her left hand, she snapped her fingers. In a moment, her gown was back upon her flesh, adorning her in her appropriate raiment once more. Looking down again, she nodded. The gown reached to her knees, but had long slits up both sides to the top of her hips, allowing her great mobility - and exposing a significant expanse of her sleek thighs. Then, she snapped her fingers again. A curved, ornately decorated, and faintly glowing jade sword appeared in her other hand as if from nowhere. Clothed and armed, she turned back once more to face the three transfixed women who stood before her. And then, at last, she spoke.

"You are my jailers, I presume?" she said. A smirk spread across her face. "I made short work of the last set, so I assume they found better ones..."

Valiant Valkyrie gasped, as did the other two heroines.

Every word Jiutian spoke seemed to echo repeatedly off the walls behind her, despite the fact she spoke at a quite casual conversational tone and volume. But more to the point, whenever she spoke, despite the fact that they saw her lips as speaking English, her words seemed to come in at least a dozen different languages simultaneously. Kaja Hammer had spent enough time studying her team-mates' native tongues that she was pretty sure she could recognize some words of modern Mandarin among them - but also what struck her as a half-dozen other modern or ancient Chinese dialects as well, plus several more obscure languages at the same time. Beside her, Sun Idol shivered slightly - as she heard the goddess speaking to her in both her native and adopted tongues simultaneously.

When the heroines did not immediately reply, Jiutian cocked her head, her night-black eyes seeming to peer into their souls.

"Well?" she asked them, in her echoing chorus of voices. The heroines, though stationary, still stood just in front of the only exit - blocking her way unless she somehow went through them. "Are you going to resist my passage - or will you part before me?" she asked, testily.

"Do... do you mind if we talk about it for a moment before we decide?" Valiant Valkyrie asked.

"Even your long life is but a moment to mine, corpse gatherer," Jiutian replied, bemusedly. "But, being of partial heavenly blood yourself - albeit one from an exceptionally uncultured branch of the celestial order - you should well know that a lesser being does not waste the time of the truly divine. So... I will give you and your companions exactly one minor ke to decide."

"We, uh, we do not know how long that is," Sun Idol protested.

"Your shameful ignorance is noted, but irrelevant," Jiutian replied, with a prim twist of her head, as if trying to get a centuries-long crick out of her neck.

"R-right," Sun Idol said.

The superheroines quickly leaned together - keeping a watch on the preening goddess even as they whispered to one another.

"What's our play here, Valiant Valkyrie?" Daring Diva asked.

"Still trying to figure that out," Valkyrie replied, staring up at the patiently waiting goddess. "Any thoughts?"

"If we try and fight her, we might get wrecked," Sun Idol said. Facing a literal war goddess was enough to rattle even her nerves. "Even if we win, we will be draining ourselves of strength that would be better used to fight the Dark Prizm - and playing into their hands, since they quite obviously set us up the bomb."

"That's all true," Daring Diva admitted. "But Valkyrie... if you think it was bad that you helped let one of Lady Luna's creations run rampant in the Boarman's city, imagine what he'll say if we let a literal fucking war goddess loose. No Beachport heroine will be able to show her face with pride ever again."

"We didn't let her loose," Valkyrie objected. "The Dark Prizm did that."

"True," Daring Diva said. "Have fun telling the press that, every time they ask why you stood aside and let her walk past. Assuming we live to get that far."

"Right," Valkyrie said. She took a deep breath, and put her best superheroine face on. "Well, let's do this then." The others nodded, grimly.

The three heroines straightened up, spread out slightly, and faced back towards the waiting goddess.

"I'm afraid we cannot let you pass," Valiant Valkyrie said.

Jiutian nodded. "I divined that fifteen miao ago, by reading your thoughts," she said. "But do not worry. I will fight you fairly. By which I mean, I will limit myself to martial techniques, and not simply boil your blood inside your veins where you stand. I can tell that, while perhaps not truly worthy, you are all at least worthy enough for that."

Valiant Valkyrie shook her head. She decided had had enough of being talked down to for one night. "Fuck you, you smug bitch," she said. Then she nodded towards her. "Get her!"

The heroines all attacked, each according to her idiom. Daring Diva darted back and to her left. Her hand, diving down to her utility belt, drew forth a handful of tiny purple stun-grenades, and hurled them at Jiutian's face - hoping to distract her at worst, and score a direct hit at best, as the heavier hitters closed in for the kill. Simultaneously Sun Idol lofted up and into the air. Soaring at great speed, she swooped up and to the right, ready to come down hard upon the goddess from above and from the side. Meanwhile, Valiant Valkyrie charged right at her, boots slamming across the floor, providing the fixing anvil to Sun Idol's flanking hammer.

Thanks to their long hours of practice and training, all of their attacks converged near-simultaneously on Jiutian's position - or would have, had the war goddess still been there to receive them. But, though she had stood serenely still before them up to this point, the moment the heroines leaped into action so did she. Her body suddenly moving so fast it seemed to blur, she shot forward and dove downwards. Valiant Valkyrie yelped as her calves were struck, hard, knocking her feet out from under her. She went sprawling. Popping up behind her, Jiutian turned to observe Sun Idol. The buxom Japanese heroine was gasping in mid-air, suddenly realizing that her flanking attack was now closing in on nothing but empty air. With a flick of her wrist, Jiutian threw her sword. Sun Idol yelped in horror as it struck her right in the gut - but fortunately it hit pommel-end-first rather than the tip. It still struck her with enough force to drive her back into the wall and keep her pinned there, squirming, like a butterfly pinned to a sample board. Moments later Daring Diva's flashbangs erupted all around the prone form of Valiant Valkyrie - making her squeal and leaving her briefly wide-eyed and dazed.

Observing the results of the first exchange, Jiutian shook her head, like a teacher observing very slow toddlers. "I was writing manuals on martial tactics while you barbarians were still figuring out which way to hold the pointed stick," she said. "So allow me to give you some free advice." She turned back to Daring Diva, who, alone of the heroines she was facing still stood on her feet before her - staring back, stunned. "First rule - when outnumbered, seek out the most vulnerable of your opponents, and neutralize her right away."

Jiutian lunged towards Daring Diva. The dark-skinned heroine gasped, and moved to block. What followed was a blur of motion - Jiutian successfully feinted Daring Diva into a useless high block, and followed it up with an unopposed kick to her gut. The pink-and-purple-clad heroine moaned, spittle flying from her lips, as she was driven backwards until she collided ass-first with the wall. Jiutian came in right after her, and delivered several more furious uppercuts to her stunned face before her impressive jiggling ass could even slide all the way down the wall. At last, Daring Diva slumped down, rolled over, and passed out. Standing over her, Jiutian nodded.

But the time she had taken to dispose of their friend had given Valkyrie and Sun Idol the chance to recover. The Queen of Valor shook herself back to her senses and then flipped herself to her feet. Sun Idol, meanwhile, seized the magic sword and, gritting her teeth, with some effort managed to wrench it to one side, so it slammed into the wall and no longer had her pinned.

The two heroines stared in horror for a moment at the sight of the goddess standing over their curvy fallen comrade. Then their faces twisted with fury. "Get away from our friend, you bitch!" Valkyrie said.

"Come and force me to," Jiutian replied. With a snap of the fingers on her left hand, she summoned her sword back into her right. She raised it up over her head, as if preparing to deliver a coup de grace to their helpless colleague.

"NO!" Sun Idol said.

She and Valkyrie promptly thundered in towards the threatening goddess. Valkyrie charged straight in while Sun Idol, not wanting to get in the way and wanting to present the maximum threat possible, swooped around wide to take her from directly behind.

As they approached they were ready, eyes searching warily for some sign of the same trick as before. But Jiutian kept raising her sword, as if oblivious, seemingly almost until the last second before the attack struck. Then she suddenly ducked down. Her hand, darting up, seized Sun Idol's out-stretched arm and added a massive divine force to her already considerable momentum - ensuring she hurtled onward directly into her friend.

"AIIIIA!" Sun Idol cried, eyes widening in dismay, just before she collided head-on into Valiant Valkyrie.

The two heroines impacted into each other with a loud squeal, Sun Idol's fist driving into Valkyrie's face and Valkyrie's into Sun Idol's gut. Then they slammed bodily together. Sun Idol's greater momentum forced Valkyrie to topple backwards, and the two ended up sprawled across the floor in the direction Valkyrie had come from. Standing calmly back up, Jiutian turned and observed them.

"Second rule," she said, walking over. "If one of your opponents has an exceptional source of strength or power - take it from her right away."

Bending down, Jiutian seized Valiant Valkyrie's belt and ripped it off. The golden-haired heroine promptly lurched upwards in horror, her jaw dropping open and gasping as she felt her mighty powers crackle away around her waist. But Jiutian was not done with her. Looping her arm around, with a contemptuous back-hand, she slammed the stolen golden belt against the back of Valiant Valkyrie's head. The once-mighty heroine groaned, her eyes rolling up - and then, knocked out with her own belt, sunk meekly back to the floor. Jiutian gazed at the belt in her hand for a moment, and then shrugged and cast it dismissively aside.

Panting softly, Sun Idol shivered as she observed that she was the only one left. Her two comrades had been disposed of, lying unconscious on the floor, in record time. Rising back into the air, she swallowed, considering her options.

"How did you know to take Valiant Valkyrie's belt?" she asked.

Jiutian shrugged, in response to her question. "I read it in her thoughts," she said, her usual multilingual chorus still seeming to echo from the walls around them. "It is one of her greatest fears - although not the greatest." She smirked slightly, as if savoring the identity of the others.

"This isn't fair," Sun Idol protested. "Did you not promise to fight us with only martial techniques?"

Jiutian raised an eyebrow. "You too could read thoughts, if your command of your own qi was strong enough," she asserted. "But it is true. I did agree to fight fair. And you can fly. So..."

Lifting up her sword in one hand, Jiutian raised her right leg up and entered a crane posture. Then she ascended smoothly up into the air, until her toe was hovering half a meter off the ground.

"Shall we?" she asked her final opponent.

"Fuck... fuck me in my big mouth..." Sun Idol whispered.

Jiutian cocked her head, her expression briefly puzzled. "An enjoyable enough invitation, save that I lack the proper equipment," she said. "I would tell you to wait while I acquire it - but I am not yet certain that you are worthy to be dominated by me in that way."

Sun Idol was briefly startled. Then she remembered. "Ah!" she said. "Goddess of War and Sex," she said, remembering. She squirmed, seemingly briefly lost in thought. "That seems like... quite an exciting portfolio..." she admitted, softly.

Jiutian smiled broadly. "It is," she assured her. "I mean... can you imagine being one of those dull blades who gets blessed with immorality and devotes it entirely to being the god of breeding silkworms, or taking standardized tests?" She sighed, and shook her head. "But, speaking of bores, I now bore of this conversation. So... shall we?"

Sun Idol gasped, as the dark goddess suddenly flew at her. Then, snarling, and forming fists, she hurtled back down to engage as well.

What followed was a duel that would be difficult to follow without both split-second cameras and the ability to represent the position of every hand, foot, and other body part in three-dimensional space at each consecutive micro-second. The two combatants exchanged a dizzying series of blows and counter-blows, blocks-and-counterblocks, while maneuvering for advantage in several different axes at once. Sun Idol struggled to keep up, and yelped as she repeatedly took blows from Jiutian's sword to her arms and her legs - but her own invulnerability kept the magic jade from making more than the faintest of scratches upon her flesh.

At last - meaning about fifteen seconds into the fight, but those fifteen seconds would require several pages to recount in a blow-by-blow manner - Jiutian wised up that her sword would not be particularly useful against this one. Using it for one last feint, she suddenly cast it aside, and then ducked in beneath Sun Idol's guard. Lunging backwards, she simultaneously sent a lightning-fast rabbit kick into the Japanese heroine's gut.

Sun Idol moaned in pain, spittle flying from her open lips, as she was sent hurtling backwards by the blow. Their current positions had shifted in the swirling aerial melee to put Jiutian higher - so that the blow sent Sun Idol crashing down onto her back with a thump - right onto the goddess's waiting hospital bed.

Zipping down from on high, Jiutian alighted to stand over her in an instant.

"Third rule," she said. Reaching out with her hand she seized the transparent mask that had been used to keep her comatose for so long. Bending down, she slammed it down onto Sun Idol's gasping face. "If your opponent has a weakness - exploit it without mercy," she said to her, through the mask. With her free hand she reached out, and shattered the casing on the ventilation machine. Reaching inside, she seized the bellows and forced it down one last time by hand - hard.

Sun Idol gasped and shivered, her eyes blinking wide in horror, as a rush of soporific gases suddenly poured into her. It was just one tiny breath of the thousands or millions Jiutian had taken during her long slumber. But, it turned out, the dosage needed to keep a goddess pacified was more than enough to tame a superheroine. Despite her many invulnerabilities the Sun Idol was actually highly susceptible to chemical invaders such as these, due to her heightened constitution. The Japanese heroine whimpered, her eyes steadily losing coherence within the sealed mask. Her mighty body squirmed in its skimpy Rising Sun bikini, her long sleek legs kicking - but it was already useless. Her eyelids drooped as the gas claimed her. Soon, she was as unconscious as the rest.

Jiutian let out a light laugh, to see her final enemy felled. Then, turning her head, she briefly surveyed her handiwork.

"You were quite a bit worthier than my last set of jailers," she admitted, to the unconscious, busty superheroines sprawled out around her. "But, not quite worthy enough. At least, where the arts of combat are concerned."

Then she turned her head forward again, and looked down at Sun Idol. The buxom superheroine lay spread eagled and helpless before her, in the same position where the goddess herself had just lain.

Tapping her lip with the index finger of her left hand, Jiutian studied the slumbering beauty lying before her carefully. Slowly, a slight smile turned up the corner of her full red lips. Then, without any further warning, she stretched out her right hand, and cupped it around the enormous swell of Sun Idol's gigantic left breast.