by qazaq_2000
| Part 1.1 | ||||||
| Part 2.1 | ||||||
| Part 3.1 | Part 3.2 | Part 3.3 | Part 3.4 | |||
| Part 4.1 | Part 4.2 | Part 4.3 | Part 4.4 | Part 4.5 | Part 4.6 | Part 4.7 |
| Part 5.1 | Part 5.2 | Part 5.3 | Part 5.4 |
Becca had been enjoying a relaxing break from crimefighting. All of Metro City's archvillains were safely behind bars. The Mole, the Baron, the bizarre Green Thumb, the sinister Madame Tarot, and the Prankster -- Becca, as the valiant and sexy superheroine named Banner, had overcome them all and defeated their sinister plots. Now Becca could catch up on her regular career as ace investigative reporter for the Metro City Herald.
It was a brilliant summer day in Metro City, and Becca was enjoying a lunch break outside in Herald Plaza. She had bought a salad and an iced tea from a popular cafe on the Plaza, and sat down on bench in front of the trees and fountains that made Herald Plaza such a popular location.
Becca opened up the paper bag containing her lunch. She pulled out the iced tea and the salad, and noticed a note in the bag. Becca opened it. The note read: "Ms Smith, I know you are close to Banner. Warn her that she is in great danger. Meet me at the new amusement park site at 9 PM tonight to tell you more. I cannot risk saying more now." The message was signed "A Concerned Citizen."
Becca jumped up -- she had to rush back to the cafeteria and speak to the man who had served her lunch! Becca recalled his appearance: he had been tall, dark-haired, and lanky. He must have put the note in her bag! Becca rushed to the cafi, scanning for the server, but he was nowhere to be seen. Becca asked the woman at the cash register if she knew where her colleague was.
"I need to speak to one of your employees," Becca asked, providing a description of the man who had prepared her lunch.
"There's no employee here who fits that description," replied the puzzled cashier.
Becca was intrigued by the mystery, and was even a little excited that she would have some new adventures. What dangers could possibly face her?
Becca arrived home after her day at the Herald, burning with eagerness to tackle this new mystery. Little did she know that she would soon face the most dire perils of her superheroine career. She waited until the sun had set, then prepared for an exciting night as BANNER, nemesis of crime.
Becca changed into the sleek stars-and-stripes halter top and hotpants costume of Banner, Metro City's sexy defender. She pulled on her red boots and briskly walked to her garage, where she kept the Bannercycle, her futuristic motorcycle. "It's time to get to the bottom of this mystery!" she said to herself as she slipped unseen, onto the dark streets of the summer night.
The new amusement park stood, only half finished, past the outskirts of the far end of town, surrounded by empty fields. There was no other building for miles, yet to keep vagrants out, the construction site was still surrounded by a high chain link fence.
Becca approached the amusement park cautiously, and parked the Bannercycle behind some of the construction company's trailers near the main gate to the fence surrounding the site.
The lithe superheroine walked up to the gate, next to which the developers had hung a large sign on the fence: "Coming Soon - Five Flags Over Metro!" Becca checked the gate and was not surprised to find it was locked. There was no sign of anyone around either inside or outside the amusement park site."Perhaps the note was a crank," wondered Becca, as she deliberated what to do next. A moment later, however, she heard a woman's frightened voice from behind the gate.
"Oh, Banner, I'm so glad you're here! We need your help!" Banner stared into the gloom and saw a figure approaching the gate. As the woman approached, Becca could make out her short black hair and elfin build. Becca recognized the person as Kerrie Wainscott, whom Becca remembered was one of the security guards at Metro City Maximum Security Prison, the repository of Metro City's worst criminals and some of Banner's most dangerous foes. Becca knew Kerrie was one of the most responsible and conscientious law enforcement officers she knew. What could Kerrie be doing out here? If something bad was happening inside that prison, Becca knew it was definitely a job for Banner!
"Is that Officer Wainscott?" Becca asked. "What's going on?"
"Oh, we need to talk inside," said Kerrie, as she unlocked the gate to let Banner inside the construction site.
"Are you in trouble? What are you doing with the keys to this construction site?" Becca demanded.
"Oh, Banner, I'll explain everything, but hurry, we can't be seen out here!""There's no one anywhere near here this time of night," replied Becca as she stepped inside. Kerrie nervously shut and locked the gate behind her.
"Follow me," Kerrie instructed. "Hurry, please!" Kerrie rushed across the open ground by the gate toward a group of buildings. Becca ran after her, wondering what could explain the security guard's strange behavior. Suddenly Kerrie stopped and turned around to face Becca.
"That's far enough, Banner! I'm here to put an end to your reign of terror!" Kerrie shouted. Becca was utterly dumbfounded.
"Kerrie, what are you talking about? What reign of terror? We're on the same side of the law - you've even told me once you wished you could be a superheroine! Don't you remember - when I brought in Professor Mole, you said that to me!"
"I was a fool! To think that I admired you, Banner!" Kerrie continued. "Just like all the others in Metro City, I believed you were defending Metro City. But it's all so clear now."
"I don't know what has happened, Kerrie," Becca said, trying to calm the angry security officer, "but I'm going to take you to Metro City Hospital and have you looked at."
"That won't be necessary!" said a voice behind Becca. The surprised superheroine turned around, and to her shock saw a tall, dapper man in formal dress -- Baron Ranulf de Mantua, one of Metro City's worst supervillain! "Miss Wainscott is feeling fine. I have been doing a little counselling in my spare time in prison, that's all." Becca turned back to face Kerrie.
"Listen to me," the sexy superheroine said to Kerrie, "you're under a hypnotic spell. The Baron wants you to believe that I'm evil, but he is the real criminal!"
"Save your breath," said another voice to Becca's left. To her dismay Becca saw another nemesis step out of the shadows: Professor Mole! In their last encounter, Mole had fallen into a vat of molten experimental metal. Now he was hunched over, and his body was a horrible fusion of flesh and metal. Becca recoiled from the sight. "Yes, hideous, isn't it?" said Mole. "Once I was Professor Mole, but my accident has simply turned me forever into a new supervillain - The Mole! You'll find, Banner dear, that I am stronger, faster, and tougher than you! And, of course, smarter - as evidenced by how easily you fell into this trap!
" We'll see how tough you are," said our outnumbered superheroine. She turned to Kerrie and said, "You should get out of here. This is no place for an ordinary citizen!"
Kerrie stood her ground. "But thanks to my new friends, I'm no ordinary citizen!"
Kerrie began to remove her sweat pants and sweat shirt, to reveal a superheroine costume of a tight red longsleeved silk blouse, blue spandex shorts, and white knee boots. "I am Liberty Girl, and I am here to put a stop to your nefarious doings, Banner!"
Baron Ranulf laughed. "Don't you see, Banner? My hypnosis has given your former friend everything she wants. It was so easy to persuade her. She always wanted to be a superheroine, and now she is!"
The Mole spoke up. "And my technical genius has endowed her suit with some powers that you'll regret finding out about if you try to tangle with her!"
Liberty Girl, under the evil spell of the Baron, said, "Enough talk. Let's get her!"
The trio started to close in on our trapped and outnumbered heroine. "These are bad odds!" thought Becca. "I had better get out of here - better not to fight on a site of their choosing!" The superheroine remembered she had to avoid looking into the Baron's hypnotic stare.
Then Liberty Girl pointed a finger at Becca. Suddenly a bolt of lighting shot out from her finger. Becca jumped aside just in time; the bolt sizzled the ground where she had stood. What murderous spell had the Baron used on Kerrie?
Becca used her super speed to run behind Baron Ranulf, and kicked his legs out from under him. Then the superheroine ran as fast as she could toward the fence. With her super strength Becca would be able to rip the gate open in seconds, then she'd make a getaway to her Bannercycle.
The villains were in hot pursuit. Becca reached the gate to the chain link fence, and gripped it to force it open. But as soon as she touched the metal, the intrepid superheroine felt a massive electric current surge through her body! Becca was hurled backward onto the ground from the force of the electric shock. She lay prostrate, dazed and confused, as her enemies caught up to her and surrounded her.
"I suppose we should have warned her about the electrified fence," chuckled the Mole coldly.
"Yes, especially since we turned it on only after she was inside," said the Baron.
Becca's was still reeling from the electric shock. "Oooh," she murmured, "what happened?" She tried to get up, but Liberty Girl fired another lightning bolt right at our helpless heroine, who crumpled to the ground again.
"Banner will recover quickly. Quick, tie her up!" ordered the Baron. The Mole pulled some ropes out of his pocket and began to tie Banner's hands together behind her back.
"Nooo," Becca protested feebly, too weak to resist her capture. "Kerrie... you don't...have...to do this!" the embattled superheroine struggled to say, weak and breathless as she was.
"We'll have no more amateur career counselling," said the Baron, as he took out a long white silk hankerchief and stuffed it in Becca's mouth, then tied the ends behind her head. Meanwhile, the Mole was busy tying her legs together at the ankles. Becca was now completely helpless!
"What are you going to do with her?" asked Liberty Girl. "We can't take her to the police - they don't know what she's really up to!"
The Baron replied, "We'll keep her under wraps here while you collect evidence of her wrongdoing!"
Liberty Girl agreed. "Don't let her out of your sight," said the duped new crimefighter as she rushed out of the amusement park site. Becca could only moan softly into her gag and look pleadingly at Kerrie as Liberty Girl turned and left her in the clutches of two of her worst enemies.
When Kerrie had left, Mole turned to Baron and asked, "So, now that we've got Banner to ourselves, what should we really do with her?"
"I don't know. Perhaps we should ask our prisoner how she would like to end it all," said the Baron with a smirk. Becca mmpphhhed loudly into her gag and tested her tight bonds.
"Oh, please," said the Mole to his prone and helpless captive, "of course the ropes are made of Molium - as you've found out before, they are superheroine-tested, supervillain-approved! You'll never escape from them!" Becca had to acknowledge that the archvillain was right: try as she might, her ties would not yield a millimeter.
"Well," sighed the Baron mockingly, "I suppose it is too much to ask a superheroine to pick the method of her own destruction. What do you say we find out whether the new rollercoaster has been finished or not?"
Becca twisted helplessly in her bonds, her eyes silently conveying her alarm as her two enemies plotted her destruction.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," replied the Mole. The diabolical villain knelt down to gloat over the defeated superheroine. "Now, my dear Banner, I've been waiting for this moment ever since you knocked me into that pool of molten Molium and turned me into the circus freak I've become!" Becca could only make a muffled retort through her tight cleave gag, and once again strained in futility against the ropes immobilizing her. The Mole continued his gloating. "I've waited a long time for this moment, my dear Banner," he hissed into her ear. "I finally have you in my clutches. Soon I'll have my revenge for what you've done to me." Becca writhed helplessly in her bonds, glancing desperately at her captor.
Go ahead, fight all you want, for all the good it will do you!" said the Baron with an evil laugh. "I find all your struggling immensely entertaining, Banner, especially given all the trouble you've caused us in the past.
You've escaped from me before, but this time you're done for, my pretty! Well, what say you, Professor, shall we finish her off?"
"I think that's an excellent idea!" agreed the Mole. He picked the helplessly bound and gagged superheroine off the ground in front of him. She tried to kick but with her feet tied could harly put up much resistance as the Mole carried her to her doom. "He's become a lot stronger after the accident," thought the imperilled Becca.
The Mole, with the Baron behind him, carried Becca to the rollercoaster. The archvillain placed the imperiled superheroine in one of the rollercoaster cars and lowered the safety bar to fasten her into her seat. "Safety first," sneered the Mole as the safety bar clicked into place.
"Now, you're a smart little superheroine, Banner, so you must have figured out that you're not on this ride for your amusement," the Baron explained. "You see, although this rollercoaster is not really quite finished, my colleague the Mole managed to power it up, so that this car will give you 90% of the full experience when the work is done. The last 10%, however, will prove a bit problematic for you, since at one of the high speed turns the track will just end, and Newtonian physics will simply take over, hurtling you into the air and smashing you to bits."
Becca mmppphhed loudly into her gag and thrashed wildly against her ties. It was no use; she was too tightly tied up!
"Don't you love it when they struggle?" said the Mole, leering at his sexy prisoner. Becca glared at him in protest.
"Indeed," Baron Ranulf replied. "Shall I push the start button, Professor?" The Mole nodded, an evil grin spreading across his face as he contemplated Banner's demise.
The Baron pushed the start, and the rollercoaster car lurched into motion. Becca continued her desperate struggles as she started a ride that would end in calamity.
Is this the end for our brave Becca? Has Banner finally been defeated by a diabolical alliance of her enemies? How will she escape from her peril, let alone defeat a team of supervillains? And how will her twisted adversaries exploit the hypnotized Kerrie Wainscott, who as Liberty Girl is completely under the Baron's spell? Perhaps the answers will come in the next episode, if Becca can escape this terrible trap....
In our last episode, Becca had been lured into a trap set by two of her archenemies, the Mole and the Baron. The Baron had somehow hypnotized a security officer named Kerrie Wainscott into believing that she was a superheroine named Liberty Girl, and that Banner was an evil villainess. The villainous pair and their spellbound accomplice had defeated the valiant Banner, had tied her up and locked her in a runaway rollercoaster whose tracks had not been completed. Becca would be dashed to pieces when car she was in ran off the rails!
As her rollercoaster car climbed the first hill with a sickening clickety-clack, Becca continued to twist and turn helplessly, unable to free herself. The Mole had tied her wrists and ankles fiendishly tightly, and the rollercoaster car's safety bar further hampered any mobility she might have had. "I've got to get out of this trap!" she thought, but her feverish thrashing against her bonds was to no avail. Her situation seemed to grow ever more hopeless as the car approached the top of the first hill.
Becca despaired as the car reached the crest of the tracks. She looked down at the heart-stopping precipice as the car suddenly hurtled down the far side of the hill. Becca had no idea how far the track went, but knew it couldn't be long before her fate was sealed. The rush of the air as she careened down the track went straight to her head, just long enough for her to be thrown against the padded side of the rollercoaster car as the track swerved suddenly to the left. Then the car heaved up into the sky at top speed as the track humped into a second, smaller hill. Becca thought she would be thrown clear out of the car, but the safety bar held her in place. She continued to struggle against her ties but could make no headway as she was thrown about under the force of the rollercoaster twists and turns.
"There's no way out!" thought Becca. All her straining and struggling were in vain, and the rollercoaster continued to speed her toward destruction! It was all over!
"There's no way out!" thought Becca. All her straining and struggling were in vain, and the rollercoaster continued to speed her toward destruction! It was all over!
As the rollercoaster car made another stomach-churning charge over another crest in the track, Becca noticed the safety bar coming loose. The villains hadn't fastened it shut properly! "Here's my chance!" the sexy superheroine said to herself. "If I can just push the bar open, then with my super strength and agility I might be able to jump clear of this trap. If I pick the right spot, I'll be able to do it, even tied up like this!"
Becca wouldn't have much time to pick, for in the distance she could see the abrupt end of the track. She lay down as far as she could in the seat of the car, and as the car went over another hump she kicked the safety bar as hard as she could. Success! The bar snapped open! Becca was now tossed to and fro under the immense forces of the rollercoaster ride. Becca saw a trough in the track just before the rails turned to the right and then ended. "That will have to be where I get off!" thought Becca. The imperilled superheroine timed her jump and leapt clear of the rollercoaster and onto soft grass, while the car swerved to the right, catapulted off the rails, and crashed in a shower of sparks and the sound of twisting metal. Becca was safe!
Safe she was, but not free of the Mole's bonds. Becca could only hope that she freed herself before the two villains came by to inspect their handiwork. She writhed, stretching and straining with all her superstrength, but could not break her bonds made of unbreakable Molium. If the villains found her before she freed herself, she would be in as great danger as the trap she had just so narrowly escaped! The helpless superheroine's heart sank as she heard heavy footsteps approach. It must be the villains! And Banner was lying still trussed up on the ground, about to become their helpless victim again! "Out of the frying pan, into the fire!" was all that Becca could think, powerless to defend herself, unable even to cry out for help!
The footsteps grew louder. The sexy superheroine, lying on her side, her back to the approaching steps, could do nothing but turn over to face the approaching figure. "I'll just have to be brave before the Mole and the Baron," she thought as she turned over.
But as she rolled onto her other side she saw, not her two adversaries, but a security guard holding a flashlight and perturbed by the sight of a bound and gagged superheroine on the ground in front of him! The footsteps grew louder. The sexy superheroine, lying on her side, her back to the approaching steps, could do nothing but turn over to face the approaching figure. "I'll just have to be brave before the Mole and the Baron," she thought as she turned over. But as she rolled onto her other side she saw, not her two adversaries, but a security guard holding a flashlight and perturbed by the sight of a bound and gagged superheroine on the ground in front of him!
"Oh, my goodness!" said the guard as he rushed over to untie Becca. "What happened to you?" he asked as he pulled off her gag.
"A bit of trickery from some very dangerous criminals," answered Becca as the guard started to untie her hands. "Hey, aren't you Banner, that superheroine I've heard about on TV?"
"Yes, I am," Becca answered. "What are you doing here?"
"I was working for the security company here until some new company came in and took over looking over the place. I was driving past here on the way home when I saw the rollercoaster going. That looked pretty odd to me, so I came in the back gate. Whoever is running security has electrified the fence to dangerous levels!"
"Tell me about it," groaned Becca, as she recalled how the villains had used the fence to trap her.
"What are they trying to do?" the guard asked as he finished freeing the sleek superheroine from the ropes holding her.
Becca stood up and scanned the area and in the half-light of the amusement park site saw the shadows of what could only be the Mole and Baron Ranulf. "So far, it looks like they're just trying to get even with me for putting them behind bars. But if they got me, they'd soon wreak havoc on Metro City!
"Please, you have to untie me quickly, and then get out of here. There are two arch-criminals loose in this site who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals!"
"Too late!" Becca heard the voice of Baron Ranulf echo as he shouted from about a hundred yards away. "You'll never escape from this amusement park, which Mole and I have redesigned for our amusement and your destruction! As for you," sneered Ranulf as he now glared at the hapless security guard, " you'll pay for helping our enemy!"
"Let him go!" pleaded Becca. "He's an innocent citizen! It's me you want!" The guard had loosened her bonds but had not had enough time to remove them, so Becca seemed to Ranulf to still be securely bound. This gave Becca the idea for a plan.
Meanwhile the security guard had enough sense to run like mad upon seeing the weird and sinister Mole and Baron Ranulf appear. "No matter," growled the Mole, "by the time he gets into town it will be all over for Banner!"
The two archvillains closed in on Becca, who still held her hands behind her back. The Mole leant down to gloat, but as he did, Becca, with lightning-fast super speed, struck him hard in the chest area. The Mole reeled from Becca's blow, but with his skin now grafted with Molium, he merely grunted and stumbled backward instead of being hurled dozens of feet from the force of Banner's super punch. Becca winced - hitting metal that strong made even a superheroine wince!
Baron Ranulf was unnerved by Banner's unexpected freedom. "She's loose, Mole! Get her!" he cried as he beat a hasty and cowardly retreat. The Baron's cowardice distracted Mole. "Hey, where are you... " But he didn't get a chance to finish his question as Becca jumped up and gave him a super strong kick in the gut and winded him.
Becca decided it was best to chase after the weakest link, and ran after the Baron. The Mole would have to wait, but it would be easier to track someone as unnatural looking as the Mole. It would be easier for the Baron to get away, and Banner didn't want someone that dangerous to the citizenry at large. Ranulf was a few hundred feet ahead. With my super speed, I'll catch him in no time, thought Becca. But the Baron ran onto one of the amusement park rides, a large metal cylindrical drum with a sign reading "Tilt-a-Whirl" over it. Becca pursued him into the Tilt a whirl ride. As she got inside the ride, she saw the Baron scrambling to exit on the far side of the cylindrically shaped ride. Ranulf looked behind anxiously as he closed the far metal door behind him. Becca sprinted to the far side of the ride, and tried to open the door, which was locked. Even her super strength, however, would not open it!
"Uh, oh!" thought Becca as she raced back to where she got in, only to have that door, too, slam shut in her face. The sexy superheroine's powers were again unable to pry open the door. Banner was trapped!
Suddenly Becca heard Baron Ranulf's voice crackle over a loudspeaker. "Welcome to the tilt-a-whirl, Banner dear. As you may have already surmised, this ride is also made of Molium, provided by my erudite colleague. In a moment, the metal drum you are in will start to spin, slowly at first, then picking up speed. In a normal tilt-a-whirl, the ride then tilts up and gives everyone a thrill as the centrifugal force keeps everyone plastered against the sides of the ride.
On our tilt a whirl, the drum will just keep spinning faster and faster until our poor little superheroine is flattened! Good bye, my dear, doomed Banner!" he added, cackling insanely.
The metal drum began to rotate. Becca desperately looked for a way out, but there was none. As the drum began to spin faster and faster, Becca was pulled to the cylindrical wall of the ride. "Forces too great to fight..." Becca thought as the machine continued to pick up speed. "Making me dizzy and weak..." The drum spun ever faster. Becca's arms and legs were stuck to the sides of the ride by the force of the rotation. Becca tried to lift an arm, but was too weak, even with her super strength, to break free of the titanic force of the spinning drum.
"Can't take this much longer...got to escape!" thought Becca as the force of the spinning drum squeezed the life out of her. But there was no escape! Becca was trapped even when she could move. Now she was helplessly pressed against the walls of a runaway ride, powerless even to move, let alone free herself. Is this the end? Will Becca be crushed to death in this bizarre ride of revenge? Will the villains win? And how can Becca free Kerrie Wainscott from the Baron's spell before she misguidedly helps the supervillains take over Metro City? The answers lie ahead....
6/23/00 5:12 pm
When last we left Banner, she was trapped in a tilt-a whirl ride that would spin faster and faster until the rotational forces crushed the life out of her. Already the cylindrical ride was whirling around so quickly that her back was pressed up against the sides of the amusement park ride, and even her super strength was not enough to lift her arms away from the metal walls of the tilt-a-whirl.
"Getting...hard...to breathe," thought Becca. "Too...weak...to break free...of this trap!" The ride kept spinning faster and faster, making Becca weaker and weaker. The beleaguered superheroine knew it would all be over in a matter of minutes. Already the force was clouding her mind and eroding her will.
"Got to...stay...alert," she said to herself. "Got to...think...my way...out...of this!"
But it looked hopeless. She could barely move her upper body, her arms were glued to her sides by the centrifugal force, and she now could barely remain conscious. It seemed curtains for Metro City's brave and sexy superheroine.
By her booted feet, Becca noticed a metal rod, a piece of scrap that had probably been left when the ride was built. "Just one...chance...left!" thought Becca, as she looked at the center of the cylindrical chamber in which she was trapped. There was a small round hole there, right over the main axle of the ride. "If I can...get...the rod...in...the hole," the desperate crimefighter said to herself, "it might...just...catch in...the gears." It was a longshot, but it was her only hope!
Becca's could still move her legs, since they were so much stronger than her arms. She moved the scrap metal rod between her feet, and with great effort lifted both her legs, holding the rod between her boots. The force of the ride, pressing her against the sides, kept her from falling.
"Only...one...try!" the lithe superheroine warned herself as she aimed, then used her legs to toss the rod toward the hole in the center of the ride.
But Banner's natural agility and athletic prowess made it a hole in one! The rod dropped into the hole. But nothing happened. The rod had not jammed the gears. Becca groaned in her helplessness. All was lost!
6/23/00 5:14 pm
There was no hope now. Becca's strength was gone, her will drained by the ordeal. Soon it would all be over! But wait! A few seconds later there was a horrible scraping sound, and the cylinder lurched to a sudden stop! Becca was hurled from the wall of the ride and thrown onto her hands and knees. She was safe!
Yet she was not free of the contraption itself. "Now to find a way out of here!" Becca said as she picked herself up. She tried to open one of the metal doors that would let her exit the amusement park ride, but as before there was no way to unlock the Molium-reinforced barrier. Becca looked all around the inside of the drum-shaped ride still holding her prisoner, and tried to think of a way out.
Becca was startled when she heard a voice come over the loudspeaker. It was Baron Ranulf!
"I see you have defeated one of our traps, Banner! No matter, there is still no escape for you, my dear! This whole amusement park has been set up to ensnare and destroy you. You may have overcome this peril, but we will still have our revenge!"
At that moment a sickly green vapor started to pour out of the hole in the center of the ride. "Gas!" Becca cried. The trapped superheroine looked frantically for a way out, but soon the green gas was swirling around her body, rising to her face.
"Got to get away!" thought Becca, as the knockout gas began to take effect.
"Getting weaker...must fight it...oooh!" Becca stumbled to her knees, incapacitated by the villains' gas.
"This is not turning out to be a good night," she thought ruefully, and fell to the floor unconscious.
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/23/00 5:19 pm
"Ah, it seems our guest of honor is waking up." Becca heard the sinister voice of Baron Ranulf as the sleeping gas wore off and the cloudiness left her.
"Ohhh," whispered Becca as she tried to shake the effects of the green vapors used to subdue her. "How...how long have I been unconscious?" she
asked feebly.
"Ha, ha! Long enough for us to put you in another difficult situation, Banner dear!" said the Mole, as Becca's vision cleared enough for her to make out his bizarre likeness staring down at her. The courageous crimefighter slowly became aware that she was lying on her back on the ground, stretched out
with her arms overhead. She tried to pull her arms down but found that the villains had tied her hands to a thick metal stake in the ground.
Her feet were similarly tied to another stake in the ground. Weakened both by the gas as well as by her recent ordeal in the tilt a whirl, our
heroine nonetheless started to test her bonds.
"Those spikes are set in reinforced concrete foundations below the ground, Banner," chortled the Mole. "Go ahead, struggle all you want.
You'll never get free. Not in time, anyway."
Becca stopped struggling for a moment. "What do you mean by that, you fiend?" she demanded.
"Hey, she called me a fiend, Ranulf!" the Mole exclaimed.
"Well, you are a fiend, Professor!" responded the Baron as Becca resumed her impotent struggles.
"I do love it when a superheroine calls me names, especially when she's all tied up and about to meet her doom!" sneered the Mole.
"Don't get your hopes up, you carbon-nosed creep!" shouted Becca defiantly as she tossed and turned violently in a vain attempt to loosen the ropes holding her down.
It was Ranulf's turn to menace the helpless superheroine. "Brave words, my pretty, but we have made sure you will not escape us this time. Haven't you realized it yet? This whole amusement park site is one giant trap for you! The more you resist, the sweeter our revenge!"
"What diabolical peril have you got in store for me now, Ranulf?"
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/23/00 5:24 pm
"What diabolical peril have you got in store for me now, Ranulf?"
"Ah, I like the way you phrased that!" the Baron replied to Becca's question.
"I enjoy the creativity, the artistic expression, of a very complicated trap. Disposing of you without some intricate, even baroque contraption
just isn't the same. I think I owe it to villains everywhere to make your demise...interesting."
"Are you quite finished? Did you get a PhD in melodrama?" asked an exasperated Becca, who was at least making use of the Baron's gabbing to work on her bonds. But all her twisting and struggling was just making the knots tighter!
"Yes, Ranulf, for once I agree with our pesky prisoner. I think it's time to finish Banner off now," the Mole insisted.
"Very well," sighed the Baron. "My dear defeated Banner, as you have already observed, you are tied
hand and foot to metal stakes in the ground. If you look about 100 feet to your left, you will notice a very unwelcome sight."
Becca turned her head, and saw what Ranulf was talking about. The prostrate heroine had been placed in the direct path of a huge steamroller.
The steamroller was not moving, but its engine was idling.
"Now, it would be far too simple for me to go over and just drive the steamroller over you. No, that wouldn't do at all. Instead we need a little artistry here, a little finesse, if you will."
"Just get on with it," said the Mole.
"Please, Professor," Ranulf admonished his colleague in crime. "The steamroller is in first gear, but the clutch is still being held down by a
plastic jug filled with water. Only one problem for you, my pretty prisoner: the jug has a small hole in it. See that small trickle of water
leaking out the driver side of the steamroller?" Becca could barely make it out. Ranulf gloated when he saw the realization sweep over Becca's face.
"That trickle is your fate, Banner. As the water leaks out, the jug gets lighter. The clutch will slowly come up, and the steamroller will
gradually engage first gear, rumble this way, and crush to until you are...well, I believe the American vernacular is...road pizza."
"You don't scare me! You're clearly out of your mind!" Becca bravely retorted. But inwardly she wondered how she was going to escape. Her bonds were unyielding. No matter how much she struggled, she was still as tightly tied as ever!
"No, my dear, you are out of time, out of options, and out of luck!" Ranulf replied.
"How are we going to make sure she doesn't get away?" asked the Mole.
Ranulf produced two bags of popcorn. "We're going to watch this little perilous vignette unfold!" he replied.
Things look bad for our heroine again! Not only has Becca fallen into the villains' clutches once more, but now they aren't playing by the unofficial villain rules of leaving a superheroine alone in her peril so she has a chance to escape! Is there no depth to which these fiends won't stoop? Can our beautiful but helpless Becca find a way out? Or will she be squashed beneath the steamroller? Help may come from unexpected quarters, in our next exciting episode!
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:15 pm
In our last episode, Becca had succumbed to Baron Ranulf's knockout gas. Now she found herself lying on the ground, her arms stretched over her head, her hands tied together and attached to a metal stake driven in the ground. Her booted ankles were similarly lashed together by unbreakable ropes and bound to another stake in the ground. A scant hundred feet away lay the source of the superheroine's consternation: a driverless steamroller aimed straight at her, gear in first but with the clutch held down by a leaking jug of water. Becca could see the thin thread of water trickling out the driver side of the steamroller. She was watching her own chances for survival seep away, since as the jug lost water the clutch would slowly start to come up. Soon the gears would engage, and the steamroller would begin its deadly drive toward the struggling, powerless superheroine.
Things were looking bleak for the Metro City's sexy crimefighter.
She writhed desperately in her bonds, pulling with all her super strength against the reinforced ropes tying her down. She tried to turn her gaze
toward her wrists, cruelly lashed together and held close to the metal spike. "If I could just get a hold of the metal spike, I might get some leverage to break these ropes!" thought Becca. But the villains had crossed her wrists when they had tied her up, making the spike as inaccessible as if it were a mile away. So Becca was reduced to gazing helplessly upward as she strained against her wrist ties. She was not going to
get out of this easily!
"That's it, Banner, put on a good show for us!" Baron Ranulf called as the two villains watched the captured beauty struggle to escape their terrible trap.
"I love to see them struggle!" gloated the Mole.
"You'll never get away with this!" Becca growled defiantly as she continued her futile attempts to get some purchase on her wrist bonds. "Metro City will never give in to you!" Meanwhile, more water leaked out of
the jug on the clutch and dripped onto the ground by the driver's seat of the steamroller.
"I'd worry more about your own fate than that of the city," the Mole taunted.
Becca grew more desperate as time ticked away. She thrashed her legs in vain attempts to free her ankles of the ropes immobilizing them. The lithe superheroine looked to her side in alarm as she saw how the puddle
of water by the steamroller continued to grow. Time was running out!
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:17 pm
The Baron ogled the sexy crimefighter, writhing helplessly against her ties. He took in the sight of the imperilled superheroine in her sleek Banner costume of stars and stripes halter top and hotpants, his eyes
drifting from her bound wrists, across her stretched out body, down to her booted, bound feet, lashed tightly to another spike set in concrete. But all the Baron wanted was revenge. "This time you're finished, Banner dear. You think you're so superior, but it is we who have finally defeated you. Now nothing can get in the way of our revenge!"
Becca was wondering if this time the Baron might be right. "I don't think there's a way out of this!" Becca admitted to herself in despair, as the clutch finally lifted enough to barely begin engaging the steamroller's gears. The juggernaut began ever so slowly to roll forward! Becca was doomed!
"Oh, look, the steamroller's starting to move!" the Mole exclaimed. "This is it, Banner dear. You're finished!"
"No!" Becca shouted. It can't end this way, she thought.
Just then, Becca heard a female voice cry, "Hey, what are you doing?"
The villains turned their heads at the same time as Becca, and saw the dark-haired, elfin figure in a form-fitting red top, spandex blue shorts, and white knee boots. Kerrie Wainscot, still attired as Liberty Girl, was walking briskly toward them.
"Liberty Girl!" exclaimed the Mole. "What are you doing here?"
"I should ask you what you're doing with Banner!" Kerrie demanded to know.
Ranulf whispered to the Mole, "Let me handle this one." To Liberty Girl he soothingly said, "Ah, Kerrie, you must let us handle Banner. She is very dangerous, and we have to be cautious to make sure she doesn't get away."
"But...I...don't understand," said Kerrie, confused by the Baron's hypnotic effect.
Becca cried out to the spellbound Kerrie. "Don't look at his eyes, Kerrie! Please, help me! I'm not your enemy! His powers of hypnosis are clouding your judgment!"
"Nonsense, Kerrie," hissed Ranulf as he tried to take over her mind.
"You wanted to be a superheroine, and did Banner ever help you? No! We did. We made you Liberty Girl. We are your friends."
"Kerrie, listen to me!" Becca shouted desperately, as the steamroller continued to inch toward her. "Don't let his tricks fool you. Ask yourself: if I am evil and they are good, why have they got me tied up in
the path of a steamroller? Would heroes try to kill even their worst enemy?"
"Silence!" thundered Ranulf, as the Mole lumbered over to the prostrate superheroine. He produced a white cloth and prepared to gag the pleading Becca.
"Kerrie...Liberty Girl! If you want to be a superheroine, know that it's not about a costume or superpowers. It's about truth, and fairness, and decency. If you stand for that, then help me get out of this, and together we can defeat th...uummmpph...ummmfff!" The Mole cut off Becca's desperate appeal as he stuffed the cloth in her mouth and then tied a tight gag in place.
"Actually, it is about the outfit," he said as he leered at his captive.
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:19 pm
The imperilled superheroine now could only watch helplessly as the steamroller picked up speed and as Kerrie now faced the Baron's hypnosis alone. Kerrie stood there, uncertain, as Becca's words and Ranulf's spell fought for her mind. "No...why?....Why are you trying to hurt Banner?" she asked.
"She is dangerous. She has to be eliminated," said Ranulf.
"I...don't...understand," whispered Kerrie, her will enfeebled by the Baron's powers.
Becca glanced nervously as the steamroller continued to close in on her. It was now less than fifty feet away! She pushed and pulled with all her might, but nothing, nothing could loosen her bonds!
Ranulf continued his attempts to mesmerize Liberty Girl. "You will turn around and leave Banner to us!" he intoned as he tried to stare into Kerrie's eyes.
"No...have to think..." Kerrie said as she tried to fight the hypnotic dominance of the sinister Baron. "I don't...know!"
"I think you're losing her!" growled the Mole.
"Nonsense!" Ranulf countered. "Liberty Girl, you will do as I say!"
Becca looked anxiously at the steamroller, then pleaded with her eyes at Kerrie. "Mmmpphh!" was all she could say as she squirmed helplessly in her bonds. The steamroller was now about thirty feet away from her, and despite all her struggles her wrists and ankles were still tied to the metal stakes.
"I will do...as...no!" shouted Kerrie. "No! I will not let you eliminate Banner!" the would-be superheroine exclaimed as she shook off the Baron's spell. Liberty Girl pointed toward the prostrate and struggling Becca. A lightning bolt shot out of her and with deadly accuracy blasted the metal spike and ropes holding Becca's wrists! Becca sat up in a flash and feverishly untied her ankles as the steamroller bore down on her. She freed herself in the nick of time, rolling out of harm's way as the steamroller careened over the spot where she had been bound!
Meanwhile, Liberty Girl had problems of her own, as the Baron and the Mole teamed up to attack her.
'You'll regret defying us!" the Mole threatened.
"Take a dose of my lightning powers, Mole!" Liberty Girl rejoined as she fired a bolt at the villain. The Mole took the blast full in the chest, and although he reeled a bit, he withstood the force of the Liberty
Girl's attack. He actually glowed with a faint, pulsating blue as he faced off against the new superheroine.
"You forget, Liberty Girl, that I gave you your powers. I designed your weapons. My Molium-grafted body can absorb the energy bolts you throw, and use them back on you!" The Mole then fired a bolt back at Kerrie, who tried to jump out of the way. The bolt landed just inches from her, blasting a crater the size of a small car into the ground. The shockwave hurled Liberty Girl through the air, flinging her hard onto the ground about twenty feet from the blast crater. The dazed and gasping Kerrie tried to get up, but could barely make it onto her hands and knees. Meanwhile, the Baron moved in for the kill while the Mole prepared to fight Banner.
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:20 pm
"I've got to help Kerrie!" thought Banner, now completely free of her trap. "She may have the energy bolts, but now she's defenceless!" With her super speed Becca ran from the Mole, who, now that he was half made of metal, lumbered along fairly slowly. Becca leapt onto the steamroller that recently almost flattened her and pulled the driving wheel hard over to the side, turning the juggernaut until it was now in the Mole's path. The sleek superheroine then leapt from the steamroller, and raced toward the Baron, who was almost on top of the dazed, helpless Liberty Girl. With a mighty flying kick Becca felled the evil Ranulf.
"Uhhh! Banner! You'll never catch me!" the Baron said as he pulled out a small vial out of his pocket.
"Oh no you don't!" retorted Becca, standing over the fallen villain. She had seen the Baron use one of these in their last encounter -- the vial contained noxious gas and smoke that would allow Ranulf to escape!
But Becca had been thwarted once by the archvillain's trick, and vowed it would not happen again. With her super speed, she snatched the vial out of his hand. With her other super strong arm she picked the Baron up off the ground and threw him into a dumpster used to hold construction rubbish.
"That ought to keep you for a while!" Becca thought. She then turned to Liberty Girl and helped her up.
"Thanks, Banner, I owe you!" Kerrie said.
"Just returning the favor, Liberty Girl. If you hadn't gotten me out of that trap I'd have been a goner!"
"Well, we're not clear yet," observed Kerrie. The Mole had pushed the steamroller aside and was advancing toward the two superheroines.
"You're both doomed!" the Mole thundered. "Liberty Girl, your weapons are useless against me! And as for you, Banner, you're about to find out first hand how much stronger than I am than you!"
()
6/27/00 11:21 pm
"Get well behind me, Kerrie!" cautioned Becca as the Mole rushed the super pair. "Got to think quickly!" the sleek crimefighter thought. She rushed to her right in an attempt to draw the Mole away from the still weak Liberty Girl. With her super speed she should be able to outrun the hulking supervillain until she could think of a way to bring him down.
"Come here and fight!" the Mole challenged, frustrated by Becca's maneuvers.
"Give up, Mole! Your gambit has failed! We're going to bring you in!" Becca retorted as she sped around the Mole, occasionally landing a blow on him as she passed by him. But he was now very strong, and her superpowerful blows barely slowed the villain down!
"You're the one who should surrender, Banner!" said the Mole, as all of a sudden he stooped and pounded the ground with one of his huge, metallic, claw-like hands.
The force of the punch shook the ground like an earthquake and threw Becca to her knees. The Mole closed in on the surprised superheroine, and grappled her in a bear hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of the sleek crimefighter. Becca mustered up her super strength and flipped the Mole over with a thud onto his back.
With his ungainly shape the Mole had difficulty getting up; upside down he now looked more like a giant bug than a mole! But Becca didn't waste any time. She saw a cement mixer near the spot where the Mole was slowly getting back onto his feet. The quick-thinking superheroine opened up the sluice of the mixer, and a river of cement flowed onto the Mole, instantly burying him up to his neck in concrete.
"Are you foolish enough to think that some cement is heavy enough to slow me down?" the Mole shouted.
"No, I think the cement will get into your cybernetic joints and gum up your hybrid limbs!" retorted Becca. And Becca was right: the Mole almost instantly found it impossible to move out of the cement. The supervillain was immobilized! "What have you done, Banner! I'll get you!" he vowed.
"Take a number," Becca replied. "That's two down!" she added with satisfaction. "Come on, Liberty Girl, let's get the police! Liberty Girl? Kerrie, where are you?" Becca called with consternation. But Kerrie was nowhere to be found. Becca rushed over to the dumpster where she had deposited the Baron, but the archvillain was gone!
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:25 pm
Becca's heart sank as she contemplated the possibility that the Baron had recaptured Liberty Girl. Becca frantically searched from building to building for Kerrie, dreading what she might find. Finally, she ran into a building whose sign over the door read 'The Hall of Mirrors."
"This sounds like the sort of place a villain would hide out," Becca thought. She carefully opened the door, and stepped into the brightly lit room. Inside, the dazzling lights bounced off the forest of mirrors and
temporarily dazzled the sexy superheroine. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light and Becca proceeded through the hall of mirrors.
The hall was a maze of mirrors and plexiglass. So disorienting were all the reflections that Becca would often have to feel her way forward, uncertain whether she was looking at an open path, a plate of
shatterproof glass, or the reflection from one of the perfect mirrors. Every so often she would see dozens of reflections of herself when she crossed a spot where several mirrors' reflections interacted "Baron Ranulf chose a good place to hide out, if this is where he is," thought Becca. "I can't use my superspeed in this confusion of reflections!"
Just as Becca realized how ideal a spot this was for her foe, seemingly out of nowhere there appeared several reflections of Liberty Girl, her arms tied behind her back, held by the evil Baron and handgagged by him.
Though a loudspeak system the Baron sneered, "I have your little friend, Banner, and she wants a word with you!" The archvillain released his hand over the captive junior superheroine's mouth.
"It's a trap, Banner! Get help! Don't worry about me! He's going to... mmmffhh!" Liberty Girl's warning was stifled as the Baron put his palm over her mouth and dragged her out of view.
"With all these mirrors, who knows where I really am!" taunted the Baron. "If you want to rescue Liberty Girl, you'll have to come in deeper into the Hall of Mirrors!"
"You'll never succeed, Ranulf!" vowed Becca, unsure if the villain could even hear her. She continued to walk gingerly through the maze of reflections, and after much painstaking negotiation of the forest of
mirrors she came to a large, dim, empty area, much like a soundstage, in the middle of the building. In the centre of the cleared area, upon a stage illuminated by one overhead lamp, was Liberty Girl, gagged and tied tightly to a heavy chair. The unfortunate heroine was fighting her bonds furiously but was getting nowhere. As soon as she saw Banner, Liberty Girl stopped her tussling and began to shake her head furiously, as if to warn Becca not to approach.
"It's a trap," Becca knew, "but I have no choice but to try to free her." Becca approached Liberty Girl as the latter strained and made muffled pleas for Becca to stay away. Becca jumped onto the stage and
removed Liberty Girl's gag.
"Banner, you've got to get out of here! It's a trap!" Kerrie warned.
"Indeed, it is a trap!" Becca heard the voice of the Baron from the shadows off to the side. He held a gun loaded with a tranquilizer dart. "You've lost, Baron!" exclaimed Becca. "With my super speed so much
faster than your reflexes I can easily avoid your dart gun!"
"I don't think you'll find it that easy!" the Baron guffawed. Becca soon figured out what he meant, for she tried to move her feet but found they were stuck to the floor!
"In a bit of a sticky situation?" ventured Ranulf as Becca tried to pull her booted feet from the sticky floor. "Like my special fast acting super glue?" Becca tried with all her might to free herself, but to no avail. She was caught!
"It's almost not sporting this way, is it, Banner dear?" the villain said as he fired the dart. It hit the immobilized superheroine in the arm. Becca felt woozy, and quickly passed out.
(35/M/Northeast USA)
6/27/00 11:29 pm
"Ohhh, not again!" moaned Becca as she regained consciousness. She found herself manacled into a heavy metallic chair, with thick metal cuffs strapping her wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of the chair. She noticed a weird humming sound, then looked up into a strange device beaming her with an unearthly, pulsating ray. "So weak...can't think," the captured superheroine felt. "What is happening to me!"
Becca noticed the Baron to her left, standing by an elaborate control panel and wearing what looked like stereo headphones. "You are being beamed with my new mind sifter ray, Banner dear!" the Baron replied, as if he could read her mind.
"What...oooh, I'm spinning," Becca thought. She tried to pull on the manacles that held her wrists bolted to the chair.
"Haven't you learned by now?" said the Baron, sighing with feigned exasperation. "My colleague the Mole, whom you have apparently been able to incapacitate, designed this device and made it out of unbreakable Molium, my pretty! You will never break free of your restraints!"
"We'll see about that!" thought Becca.
"Go ahead and try!" the Baron challenged. As the realization that the Baron was responding to the superheroine's thoughts hit Becca, her captor laughed and explained, "Yes, this mind sifter weakens your will and reveals your thoughts to me. Your will is strong, Banner, but even you will eventually succumb to the mind probe. Sooner or later I'll find out all your secrets - including your secret identity!"
"No! I'll never tell you anything!" Becca vowed.
"It doesn't matter what you say, Banner," cackled the Baron as he turned a knob and increased the intensity of the weird, pulsing beam.
"Uhhh!" groaned Becca. "So weak...can't resist! Must fight...the beam! I have to...clear...my head!" the sexy superheroine said to herself.
Baron Ranulf simply chortled as his diabolical machine continued to drain our heroine's resistance. "The more you fight, the worse it will be. When the sifter is done you won't have enough of a mind left to appear on a TV game show!"
"You don't scare me! What have you done with Liberty Girl?" the captured superheroine demanded.
"Well, let's have a look, shall we?" said Ranulf as he picked up a remote control and flicked on a closed circuit TV monitor. As the screen lit up Becca saw Kerrie, trapped in a seven-foot long upright plexiglass tube that was attached to more unfamiliar machinery. Liberty Girl was banging furiously but impotently to break free of the tube.
"Liberty Girl's powers have been neutralized by some special electrical currents around the tube. Sadly, her tube has about ten minutes of air in it - less if she insists on strenuous physical activity like pounding her fist on the plexiglass. I already told her she would be unable to break it!" With that the Baron switched ther monitor off. "It's a shame two such beautiful superheroines have to perish tonight!"
"You reprehensible fiend!" Becca said accusingly. "Let her go! It's me you want!"
"Banner, you are not in a position to tell me what I want or don't want," the archvillain retorted as he increased the mind sifter beam intensity once more.
Becca's defiance was flattened by the effects of the ray. "Ooooh, can't...hold out...much longer!" thought Becca.
Things look desperate this time. Becca may be forced to reveal her secret identity! Even if she does resist for a while, the strain of the Baron's mind probe might turn her into a vegetable. Meanwhile, the Baron has given Liberty Girl less than ten minutes of air! Our super pair is in terrible peril, with no way out! How will Becca get out of this jam? Can she save Liberty Girl in time? Will the Baron win after all? The answers lie ahead in our next thrilling episode!
(35/M/Northeast USA)
7/5/00 4:17 pm
In our last episode, Becca and Kerrie, as Banner and Liberty Girl, seemed for a while to have the upper hand on their adversaries, the Mole and the Baron. But while Becca had managed to overcome the Mole by dumping fast-drying cement on him, Baron Ranulf had captured Liberty Girl and used her to lure Becca into another trap. Now Becca was shackled in a chair beneath a machine emitting a mind-sifting ray that would force her to reveal her secret identity. Meanwhile, Liberty Girl was trapped in a shatterproof tube, with her powers electronically neutralized and less than 10 minutes of air remaining to her.
Becca could no longer see how Kerrie was faring, since the Baron had turned off the closed circuit TV to the room where she was held. But the sexy superheroine had big problems of her own.
"The choice is very simple, Banner," the evil Baron explained to his captive. "You can let go and let my mind sifter give me all your secrets, including your secret identity, or you can resist, and the beam will turn you into a vegetable. And I will get your secrets anyway, even if it takes me a little longer. Give up, Banner! This time I've got you, and you won't escape from those Molium-reinforced manacles you find around your wrists and ankles."
Becca looked at her restraints with dismay. The mind-sifter beam was steadily weakening her will to resist.
The captured crime fighter saw the metal bracelets that kept her wrists attached to the arms of the metal chair. Similar steely manacles kept her lithe legs and booted feet immobilized. Becca winced under the potent effects of the Baron's mind probe, turning her head to the left and right in futile attempts to evade the relentless brain-searing beam. Becca was helpless!
"Even knowing how evil you are," Becca gasped to Ranulf as she fought the mind-sifting rays coming out of his machine's transmitter, "I never thought you'd stoop to torture."
Ranulf simply laughed and said, "Well, consider this an opportunity to get to know me better!" The villain then turned the knob to make the mind probe's beams even more intense. "Of course, I'll be getting better acquainted with your innermost thoughts any moment now, Banner dear!"
(35/M/Northeast USA)
7/5/00 4:19 pm
"Uhhh," groaned Becca as the power increased. "Can't...fight this...much longer!" she said to herself. She couldn't get the rays out of her thoughts. The bean was all-consuming, all-powerful. "Got to....get out of this!" the imperiled superheroine realized.
"Meanwhile, Baron Ranulf was thoroughly enjoying his captive's plight. "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you," he hummed as he waited for Becca's will to crumble.
"You have a warped sense of humor, Ranulf," Becca said as she pulled against the bracelets holding her to the chair. Wait, thought Becca - didn't those manacles just give a little bit? She strained with her super strength and noticed that - yes! - her restraints were buckling as she exerted herself. These must not be made of Molium after all! Luckily, so far Ranulf hadn't noticed that he didn't have his captive quite as helpless as he thought.
"Ah, so nice to see you are feisty as ever, Banner," gloated the Baron as he took pleasure in her struggling. "But this time you are doomed!"
"You're right, Ranulf," Becca replied, playing along, "it's curtains for me this time!" The superheroine went through mock exertions to lull her enemy into a false sense of security. She would only have one chance - if she failed, the mind probe would get her for sure! "But just one question before you dispose of me," she asked.
"Sure, for you, Banner dear, anything," answered Ranulf in a fake voice of concern.
"Who built this chair for you?"
"Professor Mole did - I'll enjoy having his revenge on you. Why do you ask?"
"Because," said Becca, preparing herself for the greatest test of her super strength ever, "I think he cheated you on the materials!" With that she flexed her arm muscles and shattered the manacles holding them down. Before the Baron could react she flexed her sexy leg muscles and burst the bracelets holding her ankles immobile. Shards of broken metal flew into the air, striking the mind beam transmitter. Showers of sparks erupted from the mind probe machine as it overloaded.
Becca rolled out of the chair and onto the floor, still weak from the effects of the beam. The Baron drew out a tranquilizer dart gun and took aim at the exhausted superheroine.
"You'll pay for damaging my machine!' he threatened as he prepared to shoot.
(35/M/Northeast USA)
7/5/00 4:20 pm
Becca, on her hands and knees, weak and exhausted after her escape attempt, looked at her enemy with courage and defiance. "I'll never, ever surrender to you, Ranulf!" she said slowly, caught in the Baron's line of sight, as she helplessly awaited the sting of the sleeping dart and the new peril it entailed.
Just at that moment, the malfunctioning, spark-throwing mind probe machine had overloaded to the point where it blew a fuse in the Baron's lair, shutting down the lights in the room where superheroine and archvillain were squared off.
"No! Not now!" the Baron cried. Becca rolled on her shoulder and could hear the ping of his dart bouncing harmlessly off the floor. Ranulf had missed! Becca scrambled groggily to her feet and tried to ready her
The emergency generators came on a moment later, and the evil Ranulf saw his prey free of her shackles, ready for action. "Well, it seems you have won this round, Banner," admitted the Baron, "but I'll be back to get even with you!" The villain pulled a small vial out of his pocket. Becca knew this created the noxious smoke screen he used for his escapes, but in her enfeebled condition she could never stop him in time. The villain smashed the vial on the ground, and a billowing cloud of choking black smoke enveloped Becca. When it cleared, Becca saw the open door leading out of the room. Ranulf was gone.
Becca realized her priority was to locate and rescue Kerrie. Ranulf's apprehension would have to wait. The sexy superheroine was beginning to recove from her ordeal. She went through the open door and down a corridor, lit with the dim emergency lights from the back-up generator. As she stealthily moved down the hall she came to a corner, and rouned it only to see a free Liberty Girl standing over the unconscious, proen figure of the Baron!
(35/M/Northeast USA)
7/5/00 4:22 pm
"Liberty Girl! You're free!" Becca happily exclaimed.
"Yes, Banner. When the electricity went out I found I suddenly had my powers back, and blasted my way out of that horrible plexiglass tube. When I got out into this corridor I saw the Baron running my way, but looking behind him. He looked forward just as I levelled him with one of my bolts. He'll be out cold for a while!"
"Good work! I think we make quite a team!" Becca said.
"Well, it's the least I could do, since I got you into all this trouble. I wanted to be a superheroine like you so badly, but even after the Baron's spell wore off I let myself get captured. I guess I'm not really cut out for it," Kerrie said dejectedly.
"I wouldn't say that," replied Becca. "I've lost count the number of times I've been captured. But a superheroine always wins in the end. You brought the Baron to justice. Let's put this villain with his friend the Mole back behind bars."
Becca picked up the limp body of the unconscious Baron Ranulf and the super pair found their way outside, and eventually made it to the spot where Becca had buried the Mole in cement. But the supervillain they expectd to see was gone! Instead, it looked like he had dug an enormous hole in the ground to make his getaway.
"Should we go after him, Banner?" Kerrie asked.
"I don't think it would do much good, Liberty Girl. Look," Becca said as she pointed to a spot beyond the electrified fence. A large mound of earth surrounded the exit to the Mole's tunnel. "He's gone," Becca admitted ruefully. "He dug his way out - just like a real mole would have. But I think he'll be back. Metro City's going to need some extra superheroine help. Any interest in a partnership, Liberty Girl?"
Kerrie beamed and nodded enthusiastically. The Mole might be loose, but there was a new super team, ready to fight him when he returned.