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Chapter Twenty Four
I think, perhaps, having gone through this odd little twist in time probably did me a gigantic favor. It got me into the habit of recording my thoughts and feelings about things which has certainly made the job of writing my memoirs easier. Not that I’m sure I’ll ever publish them, outside of the hero community; quite honestly I don’t think I want Ultra-man to know about my conflicted feelings on the mechanics of sex with a male having been one myself once upon a time.
But I have since learned that I am not alone in this odd journey my life has taken. There are others that Mckimpson has forced on this path with me; in varying stages of success. I actually had it pretty well off from what I hear. Most Male To Female cases are in therapy for years. Some of them never adapt to what life has thrown them and a goodly percentage more become lesbians. I don’t know why my transition was so much easier than most.
Well, mentally easier anyways.
More to the point, if, in some musty future I’ll have no knowledge or memory of these ramblings can be of use to someone who is forced to walk a mile in my boots, then perhaps I’ll have done a bit of good. That is certainly a comforting thought
I cannot say much about my time at the Time Police facility. I gave my deposition as best as I could remember it, and beyond that I really cannot comment. I signed the confidentiality papers after I gave my briefing and they took me to the others who were having lunch in the base’s cafeteria. I will say this, however, they certainly ate well.
I won’t talk about Ed’s reunion with his mother.
There are some things that are just too personal. If you’ve read my other ramblings, then you can well imagine how that meeting went. The reality of it I will keep safe in my own memory. Beyond that, I can only surmise that for the first time in his life, I think, my beloved was a whole person.
Strangely enough, the other emotional departure of the group was Sovereign saying good bye to Trap Door. Those two had probably gone through quite a bit over the years, I suppose from Albert’s point of view he was loosing not only his right hand, but likely the one person he could really trust.
I’ll be kind and allow for the possibility that some dust had gotten into his eyes like he claimed.
I was more than a little upset that Trapdoor was getting a complete pardon for his misadventures in my present all ‘in the line of duty’ was how they hand waved it away. I had to wonder a bit about an organization that could be so cavalier about things. I’m sorry, I don’t buy into the ‘well, it already happened so it had to happen’ bit. Maybe I’m just a sore loser, but it did rankle.
What can I say about Sara Filby?
Physically she wasn’t that much older than I was, and still very weak from getting over both being infected with McKimpson as well as giving birth. Mind you, I didn’t expect that I’d be talking with her for some time. Albert practically wouldn’t let her out of reach the whole time we were in the cafeteria. While this must be all very strange to her, I decided to withdraw a bit and let her have a bit of get acquainted time with her hubby and son.
Ginnevia didn’t seem to be in a particularly talkative mood either so I pretty much ate by myself. When I was done I put my tray into the recycler thing they had and let myself out. Off the cafeteria was a veranda with some tables and chairs and a fairly nice view of where-ever it was we were. I felt like getting some air just then and being alone with my thoughts.
So, I let my flight give me a bit of altitude and take a little look around.
Now, in retrospect, this seems remarkably foolish, I’ll admit. However, in that time of my life I’d been used to being around people, and as I was cut off from just about everyone, I thought a flight would clear my head.
It didn’t take me very long to figure out we were in Georgia; or rather what would become Georgia in a few billion years. Stone Mountain, the world’s largest piece of exposed granite kind of gave it away. Stone Mountain is basically just a, well, mountain sized boulder that was deposited here in the last ice age. From the look of the Appalachians away to the north it would appear the land mark was still getting settled in. I had never seen it without The Carving so it was more than a little odd to see it so now.
Based on its location, I had to figure the facility we were in now would be located somewhere in what would be Dunwoody, many millennia from now. I have to tell you, it’s a little hard coping in a language that wasn’t specifically designed for these kinds of paradoxes. I’m not entirely sure how they dealt with concepts like in the future from when I am now, but in my personal past. It makes the head spin to be honest.
So, I did what any good, red-blooded super heroine would have done, I hovered a few hundred yards in the air and thought. Oddly enough I didn’t really think about my past. I mean, sure, with my past it’s hard not to consider it, but I really was more concerned with (pardon the pun) my future.
Assuming Sovereign kept his word he and his organization would be removed from the issues of my life. That was a pretty big deal to be honest. He’d been behind just about every scuffle I’d had thus far and all to get to where he was now. I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help feeling a little happy for the creep.
Despite what they tell you in the funny books, the ‘bad guy’ had won.
Now the question was how much he would get to enjoy the fruits of his labors in crime. I could genuinely sympathize with him and what he’d done. If it were a member of my family and this had happened, would I behave any differently? How many mountains would I be willing to move to save who I hold dear?
“That is the real question, isn’t it?”
I couldn’t help jumping a bit as Sovereign silently glided up next to me, disturbingly so in a quiet you can’t imagine having grown up in the suburbs. “Excuse me?” I demanded, giving a little distance but, not so much that I couldn’t be on him fast as lightening if he decided to pull something.
“I beg your pardon, Belle, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you were thinking rather loudly,” he told me with his oily smile. “What I meant was, were you to have to walk a mile in my boots, what line would you cross or not?”
“Ah honestly couldn’t say,” I admitted, both to him and myself.
“At least you can admit that to yourself,” he said as he looked off into the horizon. “I’ve wrestled quite a bit with my own conscience as I walked this path. What lines I could justify crossing, which I wouldn’t. Mine has been a very high and lonely destiny.”
“Ah don’t think C.S. Lewis had this in mind when he wrote that.”
He chuckled in an almost amiable fashion. “Touché, and I do believe this would be well outside his wildest imaginings. Still, it seemed very much appropriate. I imagine after this little adventure, petty thugs and school work will seem quite pedestrian.”
“Ya’ll seem to think you’re the only super villain out there.”
“I never considered myself a villain,” he chided me. “That is really all that matters. Truth be told, I shudder to think what I might have been capable of with out my morals to stand in the way.”
“Ah never noticed you had any.”
His eyes flicked over to me and that half smirk he always wore gave him a very sinister look. “You’re alive, aren’t you? You and countless others like you. It’s the reason my ‘rap’ sheet only lists reckless endangerment and depraved indifference instead of crimes like murder and manslaughter. Despite the fact I was neither reckless nor indifferent. Depraved, well, I’ll leave that one to Judgment.”
“Albert,” I started, somewhat haltingly. “Didn’t you ever even consider…?”
“What?” he demanded. “Asking permission? You think I didn’t? I am here because of choices your government made, not my own. My wife was killed because of my own oversight, my son was taken from me because I wouldn’t kowtow and be a good little hero like I was told. Were I half the villain I’m made out to be there would be no United States!”
“You can’t just ignore the law and do what you want…!”
“Tell that to Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and the other ‘Founding Fathers’.” He stared at me, his eyes smoldering with repressed anger at what he had gone through before he finally sighed and looked away. “I didn’t come up here to start a quarrel with you, Belle.”
“Ah’m sorry too,” I admitted contritely. “Actually, Ah must admit to being a bit happy for you, getting your wife back and all. Ah hope you’ll actually get to spend some time with her…before…”
“Before I’m hauled off to the gulag?” he asked around a dark chuckle. “Don’t give up on me yet. I’ve already hired a law firm that will make Mr. Simpson’s ‘dream team’ look like a collection of kids straight out of law school. I don’t expect to see the inside of a courtroom for years.”
Considering the sorry state of our current legal system I must confess I was forced to agree with him. Still, at least he could be a man and step up to answer for what he’d done. I found myself a little surprised at my own words next. “Ah wish the other villains in the world were half the class act you are, Sovereign.”
That seemed to startle him as well as he looked at me, for once having surprised the telepath. He inclined his head in acceptance of the compliment. “Thank you. It was never my intention that anyone be hurt so that I could undo my mistake. I came up here to tell you they’re ready for us. Time to face the music, I suppose.”
He led the way back to the facility where the ushered us into a little room that for all the world looked like the teleporter gizmo off some sci-fi show. Trapdoor, AKA the Time Cop Malcolm was in one of their odd little double breasted uniforms to see us off. He and Sovereign shook hands a final time, Albert’s voice full of genuine emotion as he said, “Thank you, Malcolm; for everything.”
“My pleasure, Albert,” the undercover cop responded. To the rest of us he added, “It’s been a privilege knowing you all.”
We arranged ourselves on the pads of the contraption and they turned it on. I felt another gut wrenching wave of nausea and I couldn’t help wondering how Malcolm or the other Time Cops dealt with it. The teleporter room faded away and for a split second I saw the vault, standing open back at headquarters, then the view scrambled like the bad reception on a TV and I was yanked sideways.
When my vision cleared I was in another little room rather like the one I’d just left. There were banks of controls that looked state of the art and a hazy force field between me and the black and gold armored form that was working them. My knees didn’t want to support my weight, so abused had my insides been of late. I had a vague feeling of falling as my consciousness slipped away to Dr. Destruction’s gloat of, “I told you that you would regret meddling in my affairs.”
Then the darkness of oblivion claimed me.
* * *
Now I’d like to tell you that when I woke up I immediately began working on an intricate and daring escape plan that prominently feature me beating the snot out of Dr. Destruction. I wouldn’t mind telling you that when I woke up the wall of my cell exploded and in strolled the love of my life with an intricate and daring rescue plan that prominently featured him beating the snot of out Dr. Destruction.
Hell, I’d rather tell you anything other than that I woke up due to a violent need to throw up in a straw covered and vermin infested cell that made Steve McQueen’s digs in Papillon look like a room at the local Hilton.
Unfortunately, that’s what I have to tell you.
Once I was down to the dry heaves, which the aroma from the foul smelling bucket I had to use wasn’t helping, I was able to take a bit more stock of my surroundings. Around my left wrist was a little gizmo that seemed to be a power inhibitor if I was guessing right. I noticed this because I was aware that the room was very cold and my ability to fly was pretty much gone.
This was confirmed when I pinched myself and it actually hurt.
While my costume was still in place, complete with my mask, I noticed, my utility belt was gone. The room I found myself in had a large, wooden door that was bound in iron and between the mold and dank smell I figured was underground; hence the lack of windows. There was another bucket that someone had ‘thoughtfully’ provided full of nasty looking water they expected me to drink I supposed.
Now, I have to tell you I’m getting more than a little sick and tired of reacting to situations like this.
I’d been reacting to Sovereign’s theft of the Time Runner, reacting to my general situation in life and all the drama that came part and parcel of it. Fair to say I’m done reacting. So, the first thing I did was start putting as much pressure on the joints of the gizmo on my arm as I could.
No, I didn’t think I could break it, bear with me.
I’d done that for about twenty minutes or so until I’d managed to worry one of the seals loose a bit and then (big breath here) stuck my arm into the bucket of water in the room. I don’t recommend you folks try this at home as the amount of pain you get when an electrical device is shorted out is quite high. Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to knock me out once the suppression field generator shorted out and my invulnerability and strength came surging back. I flicked my wrist a bit to dry it and snatched that loathsome device off my arm.
It was payback time.
The door put up about as much fuss as you’d expect given my renewed strength and I found myself in your basic medieval dungeon excepted for the lighting which were basic 60 watt bulbs in steel protective fixtures. There was a guard sitting at a desk a few feet away that got as far as, “How…?” before I fed him a knuckle sandwich that cost him his two front teeth and sent him off to dream land.
A quick search of the cell block told me I was the only prisoner, which matched up to my somewhat foggy memories of arrival. The guard’s desk yielded my utility belt which I found terribly convenient. Not in a nice way either. I gave it a once over, but if there were tracking devices hidden on it I couldn’t find them. More to the point, while a good bit of this gear was old, some of it may have sentimental value to Mom so there was no way I was going to leave it there.
I relieved the guard of his keys, made him at home in one of his empties and left not really caring if he was found or not. Quite frankly, I had a pretty serious mad on and henchmen safety wasn’t high on my list of considerations just then. As I was pretty sure I was underground, I decided of my two options up was the better choice and followed the hallway in that direction.
That way led me to a circular stair case that ended in a steel door the guards keys opened for me. On the other side of it I found a corridor that lacked quite a bit of the mold the dungeon used for its homey finishing touch as it was sterile and clean. It was more than a little eerie how empty the place was, but just then I was glad of it and, being a conservative kind of gal, I went right.
I have to tell you I felt more than a bit like a rat in a maze as I quickly found myself in a large facility that seemed equally devoid of people. I found all kinds of interesting things, laboratories, a storage facility full of God alone knew what but seemed like that final shot of the warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yet for all of this stuff, there wasn’t a single person doing anything with it.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting in my little jail break, but this really wasn’t it. It seemed like only two things were certain; whoever ran this place had trouble making payroll and they weren’t exactly overly fond of exits.
After about an hour of flying around, back tracking from dead ends more than once, I did finally manage to locate an elevator lobby and that’s where my luck ran out.
Standing in it was a big bruiser of a thug looking like a reject extra from Easy Rider. He caught sight of me about the same time I caught sight of him and cracked his knuckles with glee. I’ll spare you the horror of what a dental nightmare his smile was. “Well now, out and about are we?” he opened with.
“Shouldn’t you be sounding the alarm?” I asked as I settled to the ground and got ready to vent some frustration on this twerp.
“No need, love,” the cockney biker continued. “Alarm went off the moment you pulled your new bit of bling off.”
Mental note, next time be satisfied with breaking it. “And ya’ll are what; the thanks for stopping by committee?”
“Something like that,” he admitted. “Behind me is the main elevator shaft. Take one all the way to the top and you’ll find yourself in the main hanger. Only trouble is, I’m not gonna let you.”
“What ever shall Ah do?” I mocked him. “After Ah kick your ass, that is.”
“That’s the spirit!” he laughed before lunging at me. I wasn’t sure if he could fly or just leap a long ways, but he covered the distance between us in a single bound, leading his left hand, right cocked back in a fairly classic haymaker position.
Which was really just perfect.
My flight let me hop over him, lock up his right arm with mine and flip him around transferring all that moment right into the floor with a satisfying crash. I followed this up with (I’ll admit it) a rather vicious shot to the family jewels that curled him up like a baby finalized with a spinning kick to his now exposed spine. As he lay there moaning I let him savor the pain for a moment before reaching down and hauling him back up to eye level by his fake leather vest. “Ya’ll got any other witty repartee or did Ah break mah new toy already?”
His breath was absolutely foul. “No need to hold back on my account, love. Let’s see what you’re really made of, eh?” With that he crashed both fists into my ears which was remarkably disorienting and lodged a kick to my sternum that knocked me through the wall on the far side of the corridor. I made a perfect mess of what was probably several million dollars worth of lab equipment before my flight could over power his momentum and bring me to a hover. My antagonist wiped the trail of blood from his lips and had the audacity to wink at me. “We haven’t been properly introduced, have we?” he sneered as he hopped through the hole in the wall I’d made. “The name’s Tribsa, and it’ll be my pleasure to take you down a peg or three.”
“Is that a fact?” I demanded while breaking a rather sturdy looking metal chair over his head. That split his scalp open and released a good bit of blood which caused me to pause, thinking I’d seriously hurt him.
My mistake.
He used my hesitation to tie up my legs and give me a vicious elbow to the jaw. He certainly was stronger than he looked as that brought me crashing into a desk that splintered it to kindling. “It is indeed,” he replied, one hand wiping some of the blood from his eyes as I hazily saw the wound on his head close. “See, while I haven’t got something as a stone gas as your invulnerability, I’ve got something one better. Any wound you do to me heals up and makes me a bit stronger.”
He picked me up by my hair and threw me across the room where I added to someone’s repair bill by the destruction of an electron microscope. “You ever been raped, love?” he taunted me as I got back to my feet. “See, once I’m done wearing you down, I’m going to have my way with you in all manner of unsavory ways. Or, maybe you like it rough?”
I could see he was trying to rattle my cage and the concept of being befouled was one I had never really considered. Only trouble for him was, damned if I’d be his victim. I decided a bit of turn around was in order so I started laughing. That brought him a moment of pause as I imagine that line normally had female heroines cowering. “At last,” I told him around a decidedly evil chuckle, “Ah have a punching bag that won’t quit after the first couple of hits and if Ah break him, Ah honestly won’t care.”
That gave him a moment to hesitate and I didn’t give him a chance to recover. My flight covered the distance and if I was going for his face his late swing might have connected. But I wasn’t. I was going for his knee. The force of my strike collapsed his knee until the front of his calf and thigh were almost touching.
His howl of agony was music to my ears.
I spun out of his flaying riposte and gave him a matched pair of knees for his trouble. He managed to land an elbow to my jaw that had me seeing stars for a moment, but Yagimura-sensei’s drills had my hands moving of their own accord. Before I realized what I had done I’d forced his arm up behind his back with a wet pop of it dislocating. My other arm used as a fulcrum poured salt into the wound as I broke his arm with a satisfying crunch.
“Still in the mood, tough guy?” I snarled.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, bitch!” he screamed.
“Not today, Tommy,” I replied as I took advantage of his immobility to relieve him of an electronic card key. “Based on how fast that cut on your eye healing, Ah’d imagine it’ll take you a solid day to recover from what Ah’ve done to you. Ya’ll are lucky Ah’m not in the same league as your boss or Ah might be tempted to see just how far you can regenerate.”
There was a part of me that really wanted to do more damage; just on the principal of it, but Tribsa, or whatever he was calling himself was pretty much beaten. So I tossed him a, “Cheers, ya’ll” as I made my exit through the hole and back into the elevator lobby. Tommy-boy’s key card brought an elevator and, sure enough there was a button labeled ‘main hanger’ on it.
So I pressed it.
I swear though, it doesn’t matter whether in you’re in the local mall or the hide out of public enemy number one; elevator music is universally bad.
* * *
The elevator opened onto a gantry that overlooked a massive cave that had been leveled and paved. There were all manner of aircraft here, and the previously unseen occupants of Dr. Destruction’s secret base, scurrying around them.
If that was in fact where I was.
Beyond the helicopters, light jets and things I had no name for was an open maw of the cave that looked out over a teeming jungle. This went a long way to explaining why it was so muggy.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I went on a one woman wrecking crew to increase the collateral damage and to have a little têt a têt with Dr. D himself. And if you were thinking that, unfortunately, you’d be wrong. The bad doctor is not someone little old me is going to do much to besides escape; unless I come back with a pile of friends. Which, seeing that nice open hanger door, is exactly what I did.
I kicked my flight into over drive and I hauled ass.
Less than heroic? Maybe, but this southern gal aims to fight again another day so I skedaddled. Almost as soon as I’d cleared his little mountain top retreat my phone started buzzing. Which, honestly, surprised the mud out of me; I mean I figured the Stone Mountain Irregulars had a pretty good nights and weekends plan for this thing, but I wasn’t thinking it roamed into other countries.
But the caller ID said it was Geoffrey calling and, honestly, any friendly voice just now would be welcome. “This is Belle,” I shouted over the wind of my flight.
“Belle, it’s the American Eagle. Our satellite shows you’re in Honduras. How did you get there?”
We have a satellite? “I was kidnapped returning from…well, returning with Cavalry and the others. I’m making good my escape now. Speaking of Cavalry, ya’ll want to send it in right quick? I could use some help!”
“Are you being pursued?” I looked over my shoulder and was surprised to only see the mountain fading into the distance.
“No, and that honestly surprises me!”
“Alright, Puerto Cortés is slightly north and west of you about 150 miles away. You ought to be able to get there in about 30 minutes. I’ll charter a jet and be there by night fall.”
There was a pop and I had to scramble to catch Ginnevia who’d appeared in midair next to me. “I’ll be here sooner!” she managed before she passed out.
Now that was just what I needed, a sidekick.
* * *
Continued in Belle of the Ball Annual #2
Super Heroines Gone Wild, Central America!
Super Heroines Gone Wild, Central America!
Here it is, the final installment of the Time of Sovereign Saga
Here it is, the final installment of the Time of Sovereign Saga!
Don't forget to leave a comment now! :)
Thank you very much, that was
Thank you very much, that was fun (though from Belle's POV it meets the definition of adventure - the participant is not having nearly as much fun as the spectator). The Annual sounds like its going to be a "blast". And now I have a new storysite to cruise through. ;->
Excellent
I love this series for it's irreverent tongue in cheek that reminds me of the best of the Silver Age stories by people like Stan Lee, Wally Wood and Arnold Drake.
There's a real "Agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R." vibe going with a little more intellectual content, some of that wry Arnold Drake humor and some of Stan's self-referential awareness, too. Heck of a nice mix, and a good story, too.
Time travel tales are always a brain-buster and this one tied some pretty knots. I respect your decision not to try to untie all of them. :) What's a paradox, more or less?
Good start on a new adventure.
And did I say, I am SO glad to see this posted?
Hugs,
Erin
Kool!
Thanks a lot EE! I have always love Belle of the Ball and here it is! I loved how you kept her challenged despite her powers and let her use the brains god gave her to figure a way out. Nice.
grover
PS: Belle of the Ball Annual #2? (whimper)
Plan? Ain't got no Plan!
"Beyond Thunder Dome"
Plan? Ain't got no Plan!
"Beyond Thunder Dome"
Thanks!
Thank you for posting this chapter here. Please feel free to post the rest as time permits.
I expect that there are many more stories out there waiting for Sapphire to post them and hope that she is is able to catch up on posting soon.
Bob