By FoxFaceStories
A Commission for Xerxes76
Since being transformed from an ordinary man to the powerful (and busty) Meteor Woman, Kara has come to love her new superheroic life. She’s in love with an investigative reporter, she’s closer with her family, she’s doing good in the world, and . . . she’s pregnant! But with all these changes on the horizon, new threats rise up. A shady real estate mogul wishes to tear apart the community she has helped protect, and she must find a way to stop him, all while dealing with an ever-growing belly!
Original Here: Meteor Woman
Post-Story Commission: Meteor Woman: The Stories After
Issue 8: The Storm
Kara was getting so anxious that it was keeping her baby awake and kicking in her belly. Alex and Sally were having to remind her to sit down.
“I can’t sit down, damn it!” she screeched, her sonic scream letting loose and shattering the second glass in five days, this one on her mother’s kitchen counter. “Shit, sorry. Fuck! Where is he, Mom? Alex, kiddo, please tell me you’ve heard something, anything?”
Her sister was in full Meteor Lass garb, the golden unitard with the red cape that contrasted Meteor Woman’s silver and blue colouring, albeit without the cleavage window, something their mother was deeply thankful for. But her normal girlish buoyancy was deflated, and she shook her head slowly.
“Kara, we’ve not heard anything.”
“It’s Blackwell. It has to be.”
She’s already swooped right into his fucking office and smashed through a window, and all he’d done was made a faux act of shock that she would endanger her baby so, as if she weren’t invulnerable. He’d given her nothing. Fucking nothing. And when her eyes flashed red at him, he ran the expression in the news the next day, knowing she could never explain the reason.
“Look, sis, I’m worried,” Alexis said. “Not just about Ralph, but about you. You can’t fly off the handle and play into his games.”
“She’s right,” Sally said. “I don’t want you getting all stressed with-”
Kara gritted her teeth. “If either of you are going to say ‘for the sake of the baby,’ then just . . . please don’t.” Tears were brimming in her eyes. “Dinah wanted ‘Daddy’ to read to her tonight. I had to tell her that Daddy was away on a journalist trip for a few days. I don’t want to lie to my kid, ma. You taught me that. I still wish I hadn’t lied to you about, well, becoming me.” She gestured to her very female form, now seven months along in pregnancy.
Sally bit her lip. “I know, Kara. You’re a Conway. You were my boy, and now you’re my girl. And I always knew you were good. You still are. We’re just suggesting . . . not being rash.”
“Then what can I fucking do?”
“Wait on the Hero Society, love. Vicki told us she has heroes everywhere. Alex said that Blue Trident is out there with his own team. And they’re covering Blackwell’s businesses. You know that.”
It was true, and Kara’s friends were also helping. Even Imelda, the rather pregnant teacher, was keeping her ear to the ground, and she was getting constant updates from Marli, though that didn’t help her state of mind, especially given how vulnerable the mother-to-be was as a regular citizen.
I just feel so fucking useless, she thought to herself. I can shoot lasers out of my eyes, fly faster than a jet fighter, and withstand earthquakes, but I can’t figure out what to do.
Other than confront Blackwell personally, of course. As if sensing what Kara was thinking of doing, her sister placed a hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll go tomorrow then, sis. We’ll confront him . . . together. You, me, and a few others. Ice Shard can come along as well.”
Kara sighed. “If he doesn’t tell me this time, you’ll need to talk sense into me, kiddo.”
Meteor Lass nodded slowly. “What are sidekicks for?”
***
Kara watched her baby sleep. The whole house was asleep, in fact. They were staying at Sally’s temporarily, keeping each other safe and comforted until Ralph could be found. She was so focused on it that Kara could not sleep herself. She floated silently to the couch and pulled out her laptop. She needed to eat; baby was hungry, but she needed a distraction first. Except she didn’t get the one she wanted.
‘Star City Councilman nearly killed in gas main explosion. Story Developing. Read more below.
‘Star City Councillor Matthias Leon, 54, is in hospital with severe injuries after an unexpected gas main explosion struck his car during transit today. This came after yet another supervillain attack on the crime-ridden region of the Metropole borough, where-’
Kara cracked the screen with her hand. She struggled to breathe. Ralph had been investigating Matthias Leon. He was one of the bribed councillors. And now, conveniently, he’d been attacked, probably as a warning not to leak anything.
Oh God, has something like this happened to my Ralph? Fuck no. Please no!
She continued to read, but none of the details sunk in. There'd been another supervillain attack? When? How? She felt a sudden anger at Vicki and Ice Shard for not sharing the details with her.
I could have helped. No, the baby, of course. But . . . but something needs to be done.
He was in control of the narrative again. He’d taken Ralph - she was sure of it. Absolutely sure of it, even if she had no proof. And now he was sending more attacks upon her community.
“Meteor,” she whispered to herself. “I’m sorry, but I need to do this. I have to confront him again.”
The power murmured in her mind. “Be careful, Meteor Woman. You are a hero. Remember that.’
“Yeah, and heroes save people. I’m gonna save my fucking husband.”
She focused, and her maternity costume appeared upon her, displaying her dome in a silver like dress that hung loosely over her, giving her a rippling dress that would dance about as she flew.
Time to fuck him up, she thought. She opened a window, ready to fly out . . . and then hesitated.
Don’t be a damn moron, Kara, she thought to herself. She marched up to the room her sister was staying at and opened the door. To Kara’s shock, Alex was already in her superhero costume, her figure having changed to that of Meteor Lass.
“What?” she said. “I knew you’d be up to something. Are you inviting me along? Because I don’t want you fighting. I’ve made that clear, sis.”
Kara hugged her sister. “You’re incredible, kiddo. And no, there’ll be no fighting. But I need to do something. Find an edge. Find something to get this right. Can you do something for me? I need someone to be the punchy one if things go south.”
***
The dark clouds were gathering, blotting out the stars of the night sky. In the distance, thunder rumbled. Meteor Woman cared not, it only enhanced the tension and dread she was about to unleash as she floated in the air, gazing down at her prey. Harrison Blackwell was sleeping. He had numerous alarm systems in his out-of-town estate, the one he’d moved to recently. Kara didn’t much care. She wanted this to be loud. She hovered over, the light of the moon casting down upon her, and readied her laser vision. She was going to-
“You can come down, you know. Come down and chat. I’ve been waiting. My assistant predicted your arrival down to the hour, in fact. Come.”
Kara’s jaw went slack. Was this a trap? She couldn’t see anything. But her X-ray vision caught a man standing in the middle of a room, his hands clasped behind his back. It was him, and he had no backup.
CRASH!
The ceiling caved in as she landed.
“My, my, to think you’re going to be a moth-”
She moved with superspeed through the debris and lifted him up by the throat. Harrison Blackwell, his features handsome, his beard immaculate, his eyes intelligent and cruel. Kara gripped his throat tighter, and he winced.
“Give me one good reason not to kill you right now, fucker.”
He managed a smirk. “Ralph.”
The effect was instantaneous. She dropped him to the ground, leaving the man to gasp and groan as he stood and collected himself.
“You did take him.”
Harrison chuckled. “Yes, I did. And you have no idea how lovely it is to admit that, Meteor Woman. I hide behind layers of security, but a man of my stature and importance likes to take credit for his brilliance from time to time. This entire building is a SCIF. Not even your most fancy bugs will work here - the hole just closed in that roof, in fact. Anything electrical on you was fried the moment you landed . . . Kara.”
A spike of fear shot up Meteor Woman’s spine. She put her hand on her stomach automatically, her heroic maternity costume showing off her large pregnant bump.
“I don’t know what you mean by-”
“Spare it, I know you’re Kara Conway, Meteor Woman. A beautiful specimen, truly. The resemblance is uncanny, even when you wear those glasses and have shorter hair, even when you fool my security systems. Hope wasn’t sure, but I was. I’ve always had a mine for people, even more than business. And you, my dear, are the perfect mix of both.”
Something rumbled outside. The storm clouds had been gathering for some time, but now a bright flash of lighting illuminated Star City, revealing the many cranes that had gone up under the Blackwell name, among his many companies. The rain started to fall, landing loudly upon the roof in thick droplets.
“Ah, I’ve always loved the rain,” Harrison said, adjusting his tie. “So . . . ambient. Patiently gathered up in the sky, only to be unleashed in a grand torrent with the power to disrupt and redirect. But I digress, you’re not here to talk about the weather, Kara, you’re here to talk about your husband.” Meteor Woman snarled, ready to pounce. Her eyes glowed red, but Blackwell just put up a hand.
“Don’t be stupid. The first time I nearly killed your family, it was purely by accident. You took off a foot, as I recall.”
“And I’ll start by taking both of yours.”
Blackwell smirked. “I would caution against that. Anything you do to me, my men do to Ralph Riley. Only they’ve had a lot of practice in that nasty butcher’s work, so they’ll do it slower.”
Kara was clenching her teeth and fists so hard she felt certain that either or both was going to break. Her stomach rippled with movement, reminding her what else was at stake. Harrison noticed.
“Let’s calm down now, Meteor Woman. Your child depends upon you. Both of your children, remember?”
“All this,” she said. “For a fucking gentrification project?”
“Please, it’s much more than that. Many men want to take over the world, Kara, but I’m not a stupid man. One city, that’s all I truly want. Oh, there will be global businesses, of course, but a city to make mine. My vision, my will imposed upon it. And any reporter or hero that gets in my way . . . well, accidents happen. The cause of progress cannot be denied.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“No, my dear Meteor Woman. I’m going to own you. Hope! Come on out!”
The door slid open, and Kara was shocked to see Harrison Blackwell’s assistant emerge, but not as she knew her from their last meeting. The slim Asian woman now had dyed blonde hair of the same colour as Kara, with extensions to make it the same length as well. She also wore a silver dress with a blue trim, and the low cut showed off some ample breasts that were not previously so sizeable. The woman looked humiliated.
“Ah, there you are! Quite the resemblance. My plastic surgeons do quick work, and even quicker healing, not that I’m letting such fast-acting treatment hit the market just yet, not when profit can be milked from longer hospital stays.”
“You bastard,” Kara said. “You’re sick. She’s obviously made to look like me!”
“And yet she isn’t you, and that’s the problem.” Blackwell stood facing the stormy night, the lightning illuminating his features as he turned to face her again. “Ralph is uninjured. He won’t be injured, in fact. He’s quite safe, and will remain so, as long as you get out of my way. As long as you rescind your views against me publicly, and work for me. In fact, I had something to inaugurate our joining together. Hope, do you have it?”
The woman nodded, and held up . . . a collar. One that said ‘Meteor Woman’ upon it. Kara could barely believe what she was seeing.
“No fucking way.”
“Oh, yes fucking way,” Harrison said cruelly. “I’ll even let you keep the dress. It really does look lovely on you, the whole maternal hero look. Now come with me. Hope, walk with us, will you. I like having you near as a sort of . . . model for my ultimate conquest.”
Kara’s skin crawled. Hope didn’t look too happy either.
“He shouldn’t do this to you, you know,” she said to the other woman. “This is sick, and you know it. Help me and-”
“She won’t help you. She can’t. That implant has a detonator sitting atop her brain. Hope knows this because she already refused to get her recent cosmetic surgeries. I saved her life with that implant, and this is how she thanks me. No good workers these days. Now come!”
Hope could barely look at Meteor Woman, but she whispered beneath her breath something only Kara could hear.
“I’m sorry. At least, I think I am meant to feel sorry.”
Meteor Woman didn’t exactly feel sorry for her after all she’d done, but that didn’t mean Hope deserved this kind of sick treatment either. She followed the pair, cupping her pregnant belly protectively, as they were directed to a very large elevator, one that descended down into the complex. Harrison was all smug confidence, especially as the elevator stopped and admitted supervillain by supervillain. She recognised the man who could become a dragon, and a woman who had been a cyberpunk flying villain months ago, but who now had a sort of wild hunter theme about her. A large shambling gorilla made of stone entered the platform, and then it descended again.
“How are you recruiting all these losers?” Kara asked.
“Oh, I’m recruiting them alright, but there’s not that many of them. Come, Kara. Come and see my little pet. He’s quite the treat, and he might give you pause so you can know how far I’ll go.”
The elevator stopped far into the earth, in a sub-sub-sub basement. The hallways led to a single cell, sheets of glass forming the exterior. Within, a little bald boy, Asian in appearance, perhaps five years old, was drawing a series of pictures. He wore something like a white prison outfit. Upon the back wall was numerous images of . . . the villains she’d been fighting in the last few months.
“What the fuck is this?” she whispered.
“Hello, Lee!” Harrison said jovially. “Lee, meet my friend Kara. Kara, meet my secret weapon. The reason I recruited my Hope here. A son with the power to swap powers around and even change appearances with them. You don’t know it, but you’ve been fighting the same people again and again; the most trustworthy of which are behind us. My inner circle, if you will.”
The boy looked up from his finished drawing - some kind of blackhole-based villain. “Mr Blackwell, I’ve been good! I did lots of drawing to change your friends into new friends! I’ve made lots of powers for them to share around! Please, can I see the sun again? I didn’t see the sun for even ten minutes last time!”
“I’ll see if I can arrange it,” Blackwell said. “But no promises. Your work had some problems last time.”
“Is this lady someone you want me to change? But she’s pregnant. Wait, she has her own powers. Mr Blackwell, I don’t think I can ch-”
“You won’t have to, Lee. She's just a visitor. So be on your best behaviour and get back to drawing.”
The boy looked like he was about to cry, but Hope moved to the side of the cell. And that’s when Kara saw the resemblance between the two.
“Mommy!”
The woman showed almost no reaction. Her implant glowed slightly red, and she spoke without emotion. “Honey, my darling. Do this for Mr Blackwell, and you can see the sun soon. You are being a good boy.”
“But mommy-”
Hope’s face faltered, but only for a moment. “Keep being a g-g-good boy.”
“I do enjoy a good family reunion,” Harrison said. “Not that Hope has the emotional capacity to enjoy it, what with that implant helping dim her compassion. A shame she can still feel humiliation and regret, but I’ll have it tinkered with soon. You, on the other hand, will be wanting your own family reunion, Meteor Woman. How can we arrange that? How can you serve me to arrange that?”
Oh God, I’m going to throw up, Kara thought. I’m nauseous. He’s - he’s sicker than I ever imagined. He’s playing all the cards. He’s showing me all his power. It’s not the kind I can fight. And he’s threatening my fucking FAMILY.
She trembled. Hope looked at her. The poor boy, Lee, was trying not to look her way, but his expression was one of fear as well.
“You want me to be your slave,” she murmured. “Like her.”
Harrison smiled that shark-like smile of his. “Oh, you are so much more than her, Kara. She is nothing compared to Meteor Woman. You will be my prize. My concubine. My queen upon my arm. My enforcer. And your family will remain safe.”
Kara’s stomach lurched. It wasn’t her baby. It almost felt like early contractions. It was too early - she was seven months along. She knew she was making herself far too stressed, but this was a nightmare. She could still hear the thunder and lightning in her mind, despite the soundproofing of this place, but then she realised it was her heart pumping blood through her body. The presence of the supervillains behind her and down the hall leading to the elevator was crackling at her senses, making her aware of the danger.
“I’m not a slave, or a concubine,” she said slowly. “Never was.”
“We can negotiate the title at your discretion, so long as you are mine, and Metropole as well.”
But an idea was blooming. Crazy and stupid and . . . smart. Superheroic.
“I’m not some fucking pushover,” she said, her old working class accent rising to the fore, stronger than ever with her rage. “I’m a Metropole kid. I grew up swinging back at alleyway bullies and learning how to ride my bike across the busy train tracks on a dare. I never took life lying down, Blackwell. Never. I was resourceful.”
“Well, your resources have run out.”
Kara laughed, and that seemed to make Blackwell lose his confidence, just for a moment. “What is so funny?”
“Oh, you think ya know everything about me, don’t ya, dickhead? Well, here’s one thing you don’t know, Blackwell. Before I was Meteor Woman, I was a thief.”
Meteor Woman had never moved so fast, even though she was seven months pregnant. She turned and gave the most powerful sonic shriek of her life, sending a large lizard henchman and the wild range flying backwards and smashing into several tech-based minions. The Chinese dragon fella was knocked back against the elevator and screamed as something broke. Before any of them could react, Meteor Woman shot her laser vision past Blackwell and cut a circular hole in the cell containing the boy. She swooped in and grabbed him, mindful of her stomach, and then flew back and grabbed Hope with her other arm. The woman did not scream, but she did squeak, her implant flaring.
“She’s not worth anything to me!” Blackwell screamed as she flew down the corridor. “You won’t be able to bargain her for Ralph!”
Kara kicked a henchman as she passed, then lasered a woman whose body was turning to revolting acid. She already knew that one. She put down Hope and the kid, both of whom were confused, then shot her laser vision up into the elevator’s ceiling before punching it out.
“We’re getting out of here!” she declared, grabbing the pair and flying up just as the Chinese dragon man expanded into his superpowered form and belched a terrible flame.
“This action is foolish,” Hope said as she soared up and then smashed out of the window Harrison had been looking through so dramatically, so recently. “Your actions have no internal logic. Your chances of recovering Ralph Riley are now less than twelve percent.”
Kara grinned. The rain was pouring down, but her X-ray vision was clear as she stared at the implant in the woman’s head. There really was a detonator in there, and lots of other fine circuitry. All of that to make this woman his slave.
Meteor Lass flew through the storm and appeared beside her.
“Meteor Woman, what the heck!?”
“Too long to explain!” her older sister said. “Take this kid. His name is Lee. Hope here is his mother. Get him to safety and then get the Hero Society in. That dragon is coming for us!”
“Rising to just fifteen percent now,” Hope said, looking back. A flash of lightning showed the enormous dragon was now bursting through the roof of Blackwell’s estate, wings extending to pursue them.
Hope’s implant was starting to blink. The detonator was blinking.
“Odds shrinking again,” she said, though she was staring at her son in Meteor Lass’s arms even as they raced in the air through the rain.
I don’t have much time, Kara thought.
Meteor Lass now had Lee. She pulled the boy against her. “It’s going to be okay, Lee! I’m a hero, and right now you are too. You’re going to be okay!”
“I’m scared!”
“That’s okay, because I’m brave!”
More villains were pouring from the complex, racing into the sky as the storm grew in strength and ferocity.
“Eight percent chance now,” Hope recited as Kara flew over the Eastern Barr Forest at the edge of Star City.
“That’s not the statistic I’m interested in, lady,” Meteor Woman shouted. “I need you to tell me the odds of how I’ll go performing brain surgery!”
Meteor Lass looked her way as they flew in parallel.
“Wait, WHAT!?"
To Be Continued . . .