The greatest hero in New York City was Inertia, the Mistress of Movement. She was a telekinetic without peer, and the sight of her white bodysuit and long flowing cape could elicit cheers from even the most jaded New Yorker. There were other, small time heroes that protected certain neighborhoods and were beloved in their own ways, but they were more suited to stopping purse snatchers than rampaging forces of nature masquerading as supervillains.
Inertia’s arch enemy was a villainess that called herself Gladiatrix. She was the Flying Brick other Flying Bricks wanted to be like. Invulnerable to any kind of conventional weaponry, fast enough to circle the globe in minutes, and strong enough to force her way through anything in her path, Inertia was the only one who could hope to stand in her way.
The two titanic powers clashed on a regular basis, but they had a secret.
Inertia and Gladiatrix were dating.
0oOo0
“Peaches, it's time to get up,” Riley whispered gently.
“Don't wanna,” Maya mumbled into her pillow.
“You've got to get up,” Riley insisted. “You can't go to work if you don't get up.”
“Don't go to work, I work from home.”
“Well, you still have to get up.”
Maya rolled over and pulled Riley into her embrace. “Work sucks. Wanna stay here in bed with you all day.”
Riley tried to wriggle out of Maya’s grasp, but the same arms that could tear through armor plating were locked around her waist. “You know, that sounds like a lot of fun,” she allowed. Maya hummed happily and snuggled in deeper. “But we still need to pay the rent, which means we both need to get up and start the day.”
Maya shook her head. “I'm a supervillain. I'm supposed to set a bad example.”
“Well, I'm a superhero, and I'm not going to let you.”
“I'd like to see you try and stop me.”
Riley just smirked. The blanket flew away and smacked into the wall with a burst of telekinesis, then the pair floated up out of bed.
Maya kept her arms locked around Riley’s middle, and kicked her legs in an effort to get back to the bed. “Riley,” she whined.
“If you stop fighting me, I'll let you join me in the shower.”
Suddenly Maya was at the bathroom door, and Riley was left spinning in midair.
“What are you waiting for, the day's already begun, let's get this show on the road!”
Riley laughed and shook her head.
0oOo0
“Yes, mom, I know Auggie has a soccer game this afternoon, I already said I'd be there,” Riley said with a roll of her eyes.
Maya smirked as she watched her girlfriend talk on the phone and prepare breakfast at the same time. A bowl floated out of the cabinet as the milk, fruit, and cereal orbited Riley’s head.
“No, I'm not rolling my eyes at you, I'm just trying to get ready for the day,” Riley lied, and Maya smirked. “Is Maya going to be there?”
Maya’s smirk disappeared. She shook her head violently and made slashing motions across her throat while trying to stay as silent as possible.
Riley stifled a giggle at her antics. “I know she'll try to make it, but I don't know if she'll be able to get out of work.” Riley paused and poured the cereal into the bowl while separating the peaches into perfect slices with her telekinesis. “No, that's not a line, she was just telling me how much she wanted to see Auggie play today, but she's got a meeting that's probably going to run long.”
Maya mouthed an “I love you” and dove back into her own bowl of cereal.
“I love you too, Mom, and I'll see you at the game this afternoon. Bye.” Riley clicked the phone off with an exhausted sigh and poured the milk before sending everything back to where it belonged. “Sometimes, I don't even know why I moved out, I talk to them on the phone enough.”
Maya shot her a twisted smirk. “We moved out because your dad lost his mind after we left Mr. Big in the shower and he found it.”
Riley blushed. “Oh yeah.”
“Thanks for getting me out of Auggie’s game, by the way. I actually do have a meeting today.”
“Is it a Maya meeting or a Gladiatrix meeting?”
“The latter,” Maya admitted, and Riley groaned. “Hey, you want to keep villainy in the city to a minimum, you don't get to complain about my methods.”
“I just hate to think about you meeting with those kinds of people.”
“And I hate thinking about you meeting with politicians, but that doesn't stop you from doing it.”
“Maya, I'm a political consultant. Meeting with politicians is my job.”
Maya dropped her eyes to her breakfast. “Still say we should team up and take over the world. We could give it to Farkle and have him run everything. No more politicians necessary.”
“So you want to make my degree in political science completely worthless, that's what you're saying?”
“Not at all. If we took over the world, you'd be able to put it to work more than ever.”
Riley tapped her spoon against her bowl thoughtfully. “Hmm, maybe you're right. Of course, if we take over the world, you'd never get to sleep in again.”
Maya shoved her bowl away and sent it flying. Riley caught it before it shattered against the wall. “Okay, you're right, it's a bad plan. No taking over the world for us.”
Riley giggled and floated Maya’s bowl to the sink. “I thought you might see it that way.”
Maya rolled her eyes, but otherwise let the comment pass. “We still on for lunch?”
“Central Park, right? Twelve o’clock?”
“Let me know if you can't make it. Having whatshisname with the rocks try and run me off is just embarrassing.”
“You shouldn’t make fun of Quakenation,” Riley chided. “He's a nice guy, and he's really good at what he does when it's not, you know, you.”
“But when it is me, all he does is create way more collateral damage than I do on my own. You know last time he tried to fight me I had to dodge into the line of fire to make sure no civilians go hit?”
Riley sighed. “I'll talk to him today, make sure he has my emergency line in case he sees you out running around.”
Maya beamed. “That's why you're my favorite. You've ruined me for other heroes.”
Riley tossed her bowl in the sink and kissed the top of Maya’s head as she headed for the door. “Don't you ever forget it.”
0oOo0
Maya uploaded her latest design to the office’s remote server and pushed away from the desk. She loved art, but she hated being told what to make. It didn't help that the client was inevitably a moron who changed their mind every other second.
She jabbed at her phone and waited for the other end to pick up. “Jerry, tell Phoenix Expeditions that their new logo is done, and I'm not changing it again. The colors are fine, and if they want say otherwise, I'm going to march over to their office and make them say it to my face.”
Maya glanced at the clock and realized what time it was. “Alright Jerry, you're the best. I'll take a look at that other thing after lunch, but I need to eat. Talk to you later.”
Strictly speaking, she didn't need to eat, she generated enough energy on her own to power the Eastern Seaboard, but that didn't mean she never got cravings for a good reuben every now and then.
Besides, she had to meet Riley in Central Park in five minutes. Or rather, meet Inertia.
Maya shucked off the pajamas that she hadn’t changed out of that morning, because what good was it working from home if you didn't work in your pajamas? Her black bodysuit went on first, then her belt, followed by her midnight blue cape. Riley could get away with the long flowing cape, but that was only because her power ensured it always looked good. Maya had to make due with a shorter cape, one that ended before it even hit her knees. She capped her costume off with a face-masking helmet that matched her cape.
It was a simple costume, but she made it look good, and Maya was of the opinion that she was strong enough that she didn't need anything fancy.
Flying to Central Park actually took less time than getting dressed, and it looked like she had beaten Riley there.
Perfect.
It was surprisingly difficult to play the supervillain convincingly without actually putting innocent people in danger, especially with her level of power. Fortunately, her reputation preceded her. People were afraid of Gladiatrix, and all she had to do to stir up a little panic was float menacingly over Central Park until someone saw her, which usually only took thirty seconds or so.
“Oh god, run! It’s Gladiatrix!”
Sure enough, there they went. Now she just had to cause a little destruction until Riley showed up to stop her. Then they’d go back and forth for a few minutes, stage some good pictures for the tourons and reporters in the crowd, and wait for a suitably dramatic moment for Inertia to drive her off and save the day. Nobody got hurt, they both got to show off how badass they were, and it was a lot of fun for them. Admittedly a little less fun for Inertia, since she usually got roped into doing clean up, but she enjoyed that sort of thing.
Her belt vibrated, and Maya checked her phone.
ETA 5min, Sen Bigmouth won’t shut up
Of course, even the best laid plans always went wrong. Oh well, that just meant she had time to indulge in her favorite pastime.
Creative vandalism.
0oOo0
“I’m sorry, Senator Beegmouf, but I really need to get going,” Riley said through gritted teeth. “I’ve got some new numbers I need to look over, or I’ll never have that report ready for release on Friday. Say hi to your wife for me.”
The man on the other end of the phone sighed. “Well, alright, Miss Matthews, I suppose I’ve got everything I need from you today. And tell your uncle to call me soon, he’s been dodging me for weeks.”
That's because you're a jerkface who loves to hear himself talk, Riley didn't say. “I'll make sure to do that,” she did say, then hung up the phone with a little too much satisfaction.
“I'm going to enjoy exposing him for the slime ball he really is,” Riley said aloud as she closed up her office and put her phone in Do Not Disturb mode.
Confident that she wouldn't be interrupted, Riley suited up. White bodysuit, purple belt, white cape, and purple domino mask. Maya liked to tease her about how similar their costumes were, but they went to the same seamstress, of course they'd be alike.
Inertia went out the window and rocketed towards Central Park. It had taken closer to ten minutes to get off the phone, not five like she'd told Maya, and there was no telling what kind of chaos her girlfriend would cause in the meantime.
It wasn't hard to find Maya once she got to the park. People were running away, and police were trying to organize the retreat. At least they had learned to avoid confrontation with Gladiatrix. The first time they'd tried to arrest her, it had resulted in the destruction of two dozen police cars and three precinct buildings. Inertia had been able to reconstruct almost everything, but the cops had taken the hint.
Maya had slept on the couch for a week after that, but Riley was quietly happy that she didn't have to visit her girlfriend in jail.
Inertia came to a stop over the fight. Apparently Gladiatrix had found someone else to play with while she was waiting.
A man in a mechanized suit of armor with five arms sent a salvo of mini-missiles at Gladiatrix, who just flew through them and hit the man with his sixth mechanical arm. He dropped out of the air, and Inertia caught him with her powers before he hit the ground.
“Hit the showers, Wolfspider, I'll take it from here,” Inertia ordered. She pointed a dramatic finger at Gladiatrix. “And you, give him back his arm.”
Predictably, Gladiatrix flung the arm at Wolfspider at top speed, but it wasn’t hard for Inertia to catch it before it hit the technological hero.
“About time you showed up, Inertia. I almost thought you were going to stand me up. You shouldn't make me wait around with nothing but the B-Team to occupy my time. It makes me think you don’t care about me anymore.”
“As long as you threaten the good people of this city, I’ll always be here,” Inertia boomed dramatically. “And with all this destruction you’ve caused, you shouldn’t be surprised when good people stand up to stop you.” Actually, it looked like everything Gladiatrix had torn up would be easily fixable, and from the air, she could see where the debris spelled out ‘M <3’s P’. Wolfspider must have interrupted her before she finished the last bit of the ‘R’.
“They can try all they like, but you know you’re the only one who can actually stand up to me.”
“And here I am. Or are you just stalling?”
“You're right, enough talk. Let's do this!”
Gladiatrix rushed Inertia almost faster than the eye could follow, but Inertia just flicked her wrist and Gladiatrix bounced off a translucent purple force field. More purple walls formed a box around the villain, sealing her up tight.
But the capture didn’t last long, as a one-two combo shattered the box with ease. Gladiatrix closed the distance quickly, and Inertia fended her off with a few quick telekinetic pushes and shields before darting away.
Inertia gathered up the debris in her telekinetic clutches and set it to orbiting around her as a shield. Her forcefields were actually more effective, but the debris was flashier, which was what they were there for.
Gladiatrix landed and dragged her hand through the concrete, breaking it up into small rocks. She threw them at a machine-gun pace, with similar results. Inertia’s debris shield began to fall apart, and soon she was blinded by the dust cloud left behind. Gladiatrix dove in head first.
Every gawker still in the area would swear on their mother’s grave that they saw every punch, but in reality, the dust cloud was thick enough that the most anyone could see was the occasional silhouette.
After thirty seconds of thunderclap punches and flying boulders, Gladiatrix rocketed up out of the cloud, dragging Inertia by the cape. Some people gasped to see their hero hanging limply behind the villain, but it turned to cheers as Inertia woke up and turned the tables. She broke Gladiatrix’s grip and seized onto her ankles. She spun around in circles, gaining momentum and finally launching Gladiatrix out across the horizon.
Somewhere over Idaho, Maya’s cell phone buzzed.
Pick up milk on your way back, we’re almost out. Love you!
0oOo0
“Oh, you did so good out there, Auggie!” Riley gushed as she wrapped her little brother up in a hug. Only he wasn’t so little anymore, already taller and broader than her, and not even out of high school. “You faked that guy out like woosh and that goalie didn’t stand a chance!”
“Alright, that’s enough, get away from my man,” Ava Morgenstern commanded as she pulled Riley and Auggie apart. “He belongs to me, so back off.”
“Ava, he’s my brother, I was just congratulating him. Besides, he’s not your property,” Riley protested.
“Don’t care, he’s mine,” Ava snorted and pulled Auggie into a kiss. Riley just rolled her eyes.
“Well, I say this calls for celebration. Pizza?” her dad proposed.
Auggie nodded, and Ava grinned. “You can pay for my food any time!”
Her mom shook her head, but didn’t say anything to Ava. She’d learned how to pick her battles over the years. “Riley, what about you?”
“Well, I was really hoping to have dinner with Maya tonight…”
“Invite her along,” her mom insisted. “If we’re going to bring Ava, Maya is more than welcome.”
“Alright, I’ll see if she wants to join us,” Riley acquiesced. “Just let me text her real quick.”
Pizza with my family, you in?
The response was immediate.
Gimme 10min, about to go into my meeting
Riley looked up to see her parents looking at her expectantly, and Ava attempting to shove her tongue down Auggie’s throat. “She’ll meet us there when she’s done. Besides, Auggie still needs to take a shower, he’s all sweaty and gross.”
Ava shot her a smug look. “I happen to like it when he smells like a real man.”
Riley and her mom shuddered in unison.
0oOo0
Gladiatrix tucked her phone into her belt and started her descent from where she floated above a row of warehouses. She didn’t bother slowing down and crashed through the roof of her target. Rubble fell around her and clattered noisily, but it didn’t faze her.
The same couldn’t be said for the other person in the warehouse. A crazed-looking man in oversized welding goggles and a tattered lab coat looked around frantically and covered the table he'd been working at with his body. Good to see where his priorities were.
“Professor Putrid. I don’t remember allowing you in my city,” Gladiatrix announced.
The mad scientist recovered quickly, she’d give him that much. “Gladiatrix,” he greeted, straightening up and adjusting his coat. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” The resentment in his voice was clear to anyone with ears.
“Well, since you didn’t ask my permission to come to New York, I figured I’d stop by and make sure you know how we do things around here.”
Professor Putrid sniffed dismissively. “Enlighten me.”
“Number one, no killing innocent civilians. You can take hostages, but no killing. Number two, keep the collateral damage to a minimum. I like New York the way it is. Number three, any job you pull while you’re here, I get ten percent off the top.”
“I see. Now, before you continue, I have a small question. Why should a man such as myself obey these rules? The police already want me. So-called heroes fear me. Who enforces these rules you try to give me?”
“You’re looking at her. New York is my city.”
“Your city? So I have heard. Everyone says that. New York belongs to Gladiatrix, but not for much longer, I think.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because, soon New York will belong to Professor Putrid.”
Gladiatrix laughed. “Wow, that’s a good one. Best joke I’ve heard all day. Go ahead, pull the other one.”
“Oh, it is no laughing matter, Gladiatrix. I have seen your past fights, and I have figured out the truth behind your lies. You are not the unstoppable brute you would have the world believe you are. If you were truly as powerful as you claim to be, you would have crushed the world beneath your heel by now.”
“I hate to be the one to tell you this - actually, no, I love it - but you couldn't be more wrong.”
Putrid chuckled malevolently. “We shall see.” He tapped a button on the panel next to him and activated his trap.
Electricity filled the air and locked Gladiatrix in a stun cage while noxious green acid blasted her from every direction.
“What you are experiencing is a chemical of my own design. Stored properly, it is quite stable, but when it reacts with oxygen, as it is doing now, it becomes the most caustic acid in the world. Powerful enough, I think, to eat through even your vaunted defenses.”
The spray petered out, and Putrid waited for the cloud to clear, expecting to see a half-melted skeleton at most.
Instead, Gladiatrix floated in the same spot she had before the sneak attack, dripping acid but otherwise unmarred. She ran a finger up her arm and popped it in her mouth. “Mmm, tangy. It'd be a good sauce for hot wings.”
“This is impossible!” Professor Putrid punched a few more buttons, but Gladiatrix blurred into motion and destroyed his next attack. In an instant, half the lab was in shambles.
“You know, I was going to give you a chance. I was going to do this whole thing by the book, but then you tried to kill me, so I've changed my mind.”
“By the book?”
“Sure. I was going to come in, we'd both do the requisite supervillain posturing, and then we'd negotiate your stay in New York. You'd get angry, throw a tantrum, but eventually agree to my terms, because at the end of the day, I'm the Head Bitch in Charge for a reason. But we're not going to do that, because you decided to be an asshole. Now, instead of being a guest, you get to be an example.”
Gladiatrix grabbed him by the front of his nasty lab coat and shot up out of the building. Something about her power kept the G-forces from killing Putrid, and his scream was viscerally satisfying. She soared straight up, and held Putrid out one-handed when she was high enough.
She let Putrid gasp for air for a few seconds, and smirked as realization flashed through his eyes. “Welcome to the Sweet Spot. It’s high enough that the air is so thin you feel like you’re suffocating, but there’s still just enough oxygen that you’re not going to pass out, at least not yet. I’ve found that stubborn people, like yourself, are a bit more willing to negotiate up here. It might have something to do with the fact that I literally hold your life in my hand, but mentioning that seems kinda crass, which is why I make a point of bringing it up any time I have to do this.”
Putrid sucked in air desperately, and sounded like he was trying to say something, but Gladiatrix just plowed ahead. “You know, I’m actually kinda glad we’re doing it like this. I didn’t really want to let you work in my town anyways. Sure, you’re one of the big names in villany right now, and it’s very impressive that you wanted to set up shop in New York, but the thing is, I also know your methods. I know you don’t care about any kind of collateral damage, and I know you use innocent people in your experiments, and both of those go against two of my biggest rules.”
“I do… what is… necessary…” he gasped.
Gladiatrix smacked him lightly with her free hand. “Hey now, I know you’re not used to being on the other side of a villainous monologue, but try and stick with me here. Anyways, it’s not necessary, because all the regular New York villains get it. Flamestrike doesn’t go around killing people. Mr. Chaos doesn’t try to destroy the Statue of Liberty. But you know what? I’ve seen your type come through before, and I know you’re never gonna get it. You’re never gonna get that we don’t kill civilians because it keeps the heroes from hunting us down while we sleep. You’re never gonna get that we don’t level New York even if it would be easy, because we still have to live here when we go home at the end of the day.
“But I do know what you understand. Force. So I’m gonna offer you a deal. Option one, I destroy your lab, your building, your equipment, everything you have in New York, and you leave. I don’t care where you go, as long as it’s not my city. You leave, never return, and if I hear your name in the news at any point in the next, let’s say, six months, I’ll find you, wherever you are, and destroy your world again.
“Option two, I make you disappear. I’ll flick my wrist, throw you out that way, and you’ll land somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. I guarantee, nobody will ever find your body. There will be no convenient resurrection or escape from death. You’ll just be gone, and nobody will ever know what happened to you. Personally, option two is quicker for me, but I hate having to lie to my fiancee about whether or not I’ve killed anybody during the day, so I’m pulling for option one. Choose quickly, cause I’m running late and it makes me kinda impatient.”
Professor Putrid glared at her with hate in his eyes, but nodded. “I will leave…” he managed.
“So good of you to see things my way.”
0oOo0
“Sorry I’m late, Mr. Matthews,” Maya said by way of greeting, red-faced and breathing heavy. Riley recognized it as an act, an act she’d used more than once, but Maya was always better at it than her. “There was a delay on the subway.”
Her dad nodded sagely. “I know all too well how terrible the subway can be, let no more be said,” he proclaimed pompously. Riley shook her head. Her dad was always going to be a goofball.
Maya dropped a kiss on top of Riley’s head as she slid into the seat next to her. “Alright, load me up, I was told free all you can eat pizza.”
“Well, it’s not free, we’re paying for it, and it’s not all you can eat, because again, we’re paying for it,” her mom explained.
“All I heard was that I don’t have to pay for it,” Maya smirked. “So, again, load me up.” She grabbed a half-eaten piece off Riley’s plate and scarfed it down in seconds.
“Riley, your fiancee’s disgusting,” Auggie said.
She shrugged. “So’s your girlfriend, so it looks like we’re even.”
“Hey!” Ava protested.
“Yeah, hey!” Maya joined in once she realized she was being talked about.
Riley patted Maya’s arm before sliding up to lace their fingers. “It’s okay, I still love you.”
“Hmm, I love you too.” Maya leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. It tasted like pizza.
“Hey now, stop being all affectionate and embarrassing in public,” her dad protested. He pulled her mom in close and waggled his eyebrows. “That’s my job.”
“Dad!” Auggie hissed. “Some of us are trying to eat.”
Riley grinned at her brother’s reaction. It was a delicate balancing act, teasing him enough to embarrass him without provoking Ava into retaliation. She had no shame, and was more than willing to prove it. Riley was happy that Auggie was happy, she just wished she didn’t have to see it in person.
Maya changed the subject by asking Auggie about his game, and Riley settled back into her seat, rubbing her thumb across Maya’s knuckles. She wished it could always be like this, just sitting around a table, having a good time with the people she loved.
Then her phone buzzed, and the moment was broken.
“Oh, shoot, I have to take this, it’s for work. And if it’s what I think it is, I’m probably not going to be back.” Riley gathered up her things hastily. “Um, I love you guys, and Maya, I’ll see you at home later. It’ll be late, so don’t wait up for me.”
She planted a quick kiss on Maya’s lips and ruffled Auggie’s hair as she answered the phone. “Yes, what is it?”
The man on the other end sounded hesitant. “Inertia?”
“Speaking.”
“We have a situation that requires your attention.”
“I assumed so, or else you wouldn’t have called me.” Riley exited the pizza place and ducked into the alley for a stealthy take-off. An unconscious use of her powers muted the roar of the wind. “What is it?”
“Cyberdeck, Divine Druid, and Man o’ War are on site and engaging Cosmic Knight, but he’s already put down General Democracy and Atomic Heart, and we’re not sure how much longer they can keep fighting. The President is requesting your assistance before Cosmic Knight destroys Washington D.C."
No one was sure where Cosmic Knight came from. Most people in the business agreed he was some kind of space alien, but since he didn’t seem to speak any kind of human language, nobody could narrow it down any further than that. The one thing everybody agreed on, however, was that he was one of the most powerful villains the world had ever seen.
“Tell them to hang on, I’m on my way.” Riley put the phone away as she reached her apartment and quick changed into her Inertia costume.
She wasn’t quite as fast over long distances as Gladiatrix, but it still didn’t take long for Inertia to transport herself from New York to Washington D.C. Her hasty trip probably freaked out every airport tower along the way, though.
Inertia arrived in Washington to find Cosmic Knight fighting in the air over the National Mall. What was it about supervillains that made them go after recognizable monuments? Why couldn’t they have a fight out in the middle of nowhere, where no one could get hurt?
Cosmic Knight blasted Cyberdeck with a spray of blue-green energy from his spear before backhanding Man o’ War to the ground. Divine Druid finished a chant and a squadron of earthen golems rose from the grass and charged the futuristic fighter.
Inertia didn’t waste any time joining the battle. Her powers descended over the field like a blanket, affecting everything it touched. Cyberdeck was surrounded with a shield as Man o’ War was pulled out of harm’s way. Divine Druid was granted a shield as well, and she picked up his golems to speed them along. She orchestrated their movements masterfully, sending them in to strike the villain with their prodigious strength, and pulling them out before he could retaliate and destroy them. Cosmic Knight had to fight for every inch, her telekinesis resisting him.
She buried Cosmic Knight in Divine Druid’s golems and descended onto the green grass of the Mall. “You three okay?”
“I’ll live,” Man o’ War muttered. He never liked it when she intruded on his fights.
“Half my systems are down, and my left arm’s shot. Probably going to have to replace this armor entirely,” Cyberdeck sighed.
“He’s breaking free,” Divine Druid warned.
“What?”
“He’s destroying my golems, he’s breaking free!” Divine Druid held up his hands to try and contain his spell, but it was too late. Shafts of red light beamed through the cracks before erupting into an explosion.
Inertia threw up telekinetic shields to bunker down behind, and when the dust cleared, Cosmic Knight was changed. His dark blue armor was now burning red, surrounded by a fiery aura, and there was a weight to his movements that wasn't there before. Every step seemed like it shook the earth, and the heat he was putting out liquified the ground beneath his feet. Inertia could feel it behind her protections, so it had to be unbearable for anyone else.
Cosmic Knight slammed the butt of his spear on the ground, and everything exploded. Beams of red energy shot towards the heroes, and it was everything Inertia could do to keep her fellow heroes alive.
When the energy attack started to burn through her shields, Inertia changed tactics. She grabbed the other heroes with her powers and moved them off the battlefield. They'd be upset with her, but they'd be alive. Then she went after Cosmic Knight.
She tried peeling his armor apart, but her powers couldn't find purchase. Something about his aura made her telekinesis slide right off. She parried a few thrusts of his spear and picked up several tons of earth and rock. She waited until he overextended and encased him in a rocky tomb.
She might not be able to affect him directly, but she could do the next best thing. She gestured and launched the prison into orbit, following seconds behind.
Cosmic Knight was already free by the time she reached the stratosphere, and they met in a clash of power that rivaled a nuclear bomb. Inertia caught the blast and channeled it back into Cosmic Knight’s face, forcing him further up and away from Earth.
He recovered quickly, and Inertia nodded to herself. They were up far enough that she could let loose without having to worry about civilians, and Cosmic Knight could take it. She unsnapped a pouch on her belt and half a dozen metal orbs floated out.
The spheres were the product of Farkle and a truly prodigious amount of Minkus International R&D money. Super-heavy and super-dense, they were her next offensive step up, but still below gravitic distortions or atomic separation. The one and only time Maya had convinced her to use them against her full force, they’d broken her unbreakable arm and left bruises that lasted for more than a week.
Inertia accelerated them to supersonic speeds in an instant, shattering Cosmic Knight’s hastily raised force field. The spheres slammed against the armor, cracking it, but they weren’t able to punch all the way through.
Cosmic Knight whirled his spear around defensively, scattering Inertia’s spheres. “Give it up, Knight!” she shouted, before feeling rather silly. Even if Cosmic Knight understood English, which he never had before, there was no way for him to hear her voice. They were in space, after all.
A bolt of red hot plasma erupted from Cosmic Knight’s spear. It crossed the distance in an instant, and sheared through Inertia’s force fields with ease. She was already moving, and the plasma only caught her with a glancing blow, but it was enough. Cosmic Knight went on the offensive.
Inertia reached out with her powers, grabbing everything she could possibly touch. Decommissioned satellites, meteorites, and every other kind of space debris imaginable fell under her influence, and she pulled them into Cosmic Knight’s path as fast as she possibly could.
Cosmic Knight’s spear cut through it all without slowing down, however, and Inertia could feel him closing in. Another blast of plasma clipped her shoulder, forcing her to juke right when she wanted to go left. Cosmic Knight gained another foot.
Inertia blocked the villain’s line of sight by ducking behind an old Russian satellite and swiftly changed directions. Without looking back, she crumpled the satellite around her pursuer. She could feel him ripping through the metal almost immediately, but the delay was long enough for her to regroup.
Her scattered spheres finally caught up with them and formed a tight spinning ring. Inertia thrust her hand forward and sent it at Cosmic Knight, meeting him as he emerged from the wreckage. Her attack worked like a blunt buzzsaw, hammering away at Cosmic Knight’s armor, cracking it further. White gas hissed out of the cracks, and Inertia honed in on those flaws.
Through the assault, Cosmic Knight lifted his head and locked eyes with Inertia. He began to glow brighter and brighter, until it was impossible to look at.
Inertia sped away as fast as she could, knowing what was coming. Cosmic Knight exploded in a violent burst of light and heat, and even as she fled, Inertia could feel the pressure wave threaten to blow through her remaining shields.
When the explosion faded, Inertia breathed a sigh of relief. Cosmic Knight was nowhere to be found, not that she believed he was gone for good. She'd seen him pull the same thing before. A massive explosion as a final Hail Mary strike against his enemies and a cover for his escape via teleportation. It was why Mt. Rushmore was down to three faces.
She took stock of herself and her surroundings. Her suit had numerous rips and tears, and she was burning and bleeding where Cosmic Knight’s plasma blasts had tagged her. Only three of her spheres had survived his final explosion, and if her high school geography lessons were still accurate, she was hovering somewhere over Indonesia. Her chase had taken her farther than she thought.
She closed the smaller rips in her costume and patched the larger holes with parts of her cape. She cleared her face of blood and grime and pointed herself in the direction of Washington.
Divine Druid’s golems were already doing their best to clean up the debris from the National Mall when she arrived, and Inertia jumped right in. This was the part of being a hero that wasn't talked about or glorified. The cleanup after the fight, but Inertia didn't mind it.
She was righting one of the fallen trees when a motorcade pulled up, complete with police escort. A familiar figure stepped out of the central limousine and waved her down.
“Movement Girl!” the president shouted.
“It's Inertia, President Matthews,” she corrected, trying to hide her smile.
“What? No it isn't, stop playing around.”
“Actually, it is. I've been going by Inertia for a while now.”
“You know, if we're just making names up, I want to be called John Jacob Jinglehiemer Schmidt.”
There wasn't really anything she could say to that, so she just smiled and shook her head.
“Well, I figured since you risked life and limb fighting the Great Gazoo, I'd come out and thank you in person.”
“I appreciate it, Mr. President, but that's really not necessary.”
“Sure it is. You're my favorite, after all.”
Inertia blushed. “That's nice to hear, but it was a group effort, and I couldn't have done it without the help of the Freedom League.”
Her uncle rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay. It's your story, tell it however you want.”
“I will. Cosmic Knight fled, so if his pattern holds, we shouldn't have to see him for another six months or so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish cleaning up.”
The president let out an enormously put-upon sigh. “Well, I was going to take you and the Fuchsberry Librarians out for ice cream, but I suppose cleaning everything up is important too. Keep up the good work, Inchworm.”
0oOo0
Maya was dozing on the couch when Riley’s entrance woke her. “Hey there hero.”
Riley hesitated before turning around. “Hey peaches.”
She had a black eye and her lip was still a little swollen. Maya frowned. “What the hell happened to you?”
“It's nothing, really. I'm fine,” Riley protested. “Just a few scrapes.”
“We've got different ideas of what fine is,” Maya argued. “Black eyes aren't fine, not when I know how strong your shields are. Not when I watched the news and saw you fighting Cosmic Knight.”
“Really, it's okay. I'm already using my powers to speed my healing, and I was going to take one of Farkle’s Get Better Pills. I'll be fine by morning.”
Maya wasn't convinced. “If you're going to be fine in the morning, that means you aren't fine now. Show me, I want to see.”
“Peaches…”
“Don't ‘peaches’ me, I want to see what he did to you. Either you show me yourself or I rip that costume off you, and not in the fun way.”
“Ugh, fine.” Riley peeled off her mask and floated her cape in the direction of the bedroom. Then she used her powers to slide her bodysuit off, after trying and failing to reach the zipper.
There were bruises dotted all over her torso and the plasma burns still looked terrible.
“Oh, Riley…” Maya pointed to the couch headed for the bathroom without another word. Riley’s powers did allow her to speed up her healing, but seeing her hurt still made Maya feel awful. She didn't like being reminded of how vulnerable Riley was. If someone could break through her defenses, Riley was just as fragile as anybody.
Riley was waiting patiently when Maya returned. She kept the winces to a minimum as Maya swabbed her cuts with antiseptic, and purred happily when Maya planted light kisses along her shoulders.
“I don't want you fighting him alone anymore,” Maya said after she was done.
“I wasn't. The whole Freedom League was there ahead of me.”
“And they were getting their asses kicked,” Maya shot back without hesitation. “I saw the highlights on the news. He was tossing them around like beanbags until you showed up, and then you tossed him into the stratosphere. And don't even try to tell me one of those morons joined you after that.”
Riley sighed. “Okay, no, I had to finish the job myself. But who else am I going to get to go up against him with me? I'm not going to put other heroes in danger. He's too strong for just anybody to fight.”
“Then call me the next time he shows up. I'll fight him with you.”
“Maya, I'm not sure you've noticed, but we're kinda arch-enemies. We can't really do the team up thing.”
“Bullshit. I'm not going to let you get hurt like this for the sake of a stupid act, and if somebody tries to make something of it, they can suck eggs. Villains fighting villains isn't something new, and arch-enemies reluctantly teaming up against a greater threat is basically the most common comic book plot ever. Besides, I can always just say that this is my planet too, and the only one that gets to mess with it is me.”
Riley raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, you've made your point. Next time he shows up, I'll call you.” She giggled. “Of course, you realize that'll make the Gladiertia shippers go completely crazy.”
“Freaking shippers,” Maya muttered. “Remind me again why I can't just break the internet?”
“Because it's not something you can just punch into oblivion.”
“Maybe I'll just track down all the Tumblr servers and punch them to death.”
“As a superhero, I can't encourage you to do that, and have to warn you that if you try, I'm going to stop you. As the subject of way too many pervy fanfics, I say that if you do it on Tuesday between nine and ten, I'll be in an important meeting that I can't miss.”
Maya pulled Riley back into her arms, careful to avoid her injuries, and rested her chin on her shoulder. “I was hoping you'd say something like that.”
They laid there for a few more minutes before Riley spoke up. “Not that this isn't nice, but I'm kinda naked here, peaches. Let me up so I can go put on pajamas, at least.”
Maya chuckled and tightened her hold around Riley’s waist. “I don't know, I like you like this.”
“Peaches.”
Maya put on her announcer voice. “The fearsome Gladiatrix finally has Inertia at her mercy. There's no escape in sight. Whatever will our hero do?”
“She's gonna steal the remote, because if I'm stuck here, then I at least get to pick what we watch.”
“Fine, as long as it's not-”
“That's right, basketball highlights! Knicks played tonight, and I missed it.”
“Come on, can't we watch something else? Like, anything else?”
“Nope! The great Inertia foils Gladiatrix once again.”
“This is only because you're injured.”
“Just goes to show that good will always triumph over evil. Renounce your wicked ways and I will accept your surrender.”
“Nah, I don't think so. Everybody knows the bad guy is always cooler than the hero.”
“That's not true.”
“Sure it is. Everybody loves a great villain. You know, if you ever switch sides, I'm sure I'll be able to find a position for you in my villainous organization. A couple positions, actually. You'd work directly under me.” Maya waggled her eyebrows lecherously.
“I get it.”
“I'm talking about sex.”
“I said I get it.”
“Come to the dark side, Riley, we have cookies.”
“Now you're speaking my language.”
“That's what I thought.”
Riley paused. “Do you actually have cookies? I'm hungry.”
“There’s some place-and-bake in the fridge.”
“But they’re not already made? You truly are a villain.”
“You know it.”