“Slipspace you absolute piece of garbage, you traitorous piece of filth you fucking fuck face fuckstick you, you - agh. I can’t believe this, this is such bullshit I should just kill you right now and get it over with but no, you look at one little connection and suddenly everything falls into place and the biggest piece of shit on the planet is the missing piece of the puzzle.” Lexi stared expectantly at Elaine, as though that was supposed to make perfect sense to anyone but Lexi alone.

“Um, I’m sorry what?” Was all Elaine managed to say, she had been a little too busy being surprised by the fact she wasn’t dead yet to listen.

“I need your help. I can’t save Allie on my own. And for some stupid reason everything points to you, the person who sold her out, as indispensable in helping me succeed. This whole plan is gonna go up in flames, I can already tell.” With that admission Lexi visibly deflated, hunching forward and staring at her feet as the sound of weapons powering down filled the room, the falling tone of their whines perfectly matching the defeat in her voice and body language.

“Okay, ignoring the fact that you’ll need to pay for that wall you just broke, I was actually thinking the same thing. Under normal circumstances I’d be pretty fucking pissed, but between my depressive spiraling and the convenience of you being here, its kind of hard for me to care about your method of entry. I’ll set it aside for now if you’re actually willing to team up to save her.” Elaine snatched her Slipspace costume off of the floor, where it had remained crumpled since she first returned home from Allie’s sentencing, and looked toward Lexi expectantly. 

“Wait, just like that? You’re actually going to help and I don’t even have to threaten you? Where was that Slipspace when my sister was being taken in by a couple of yacht club assholes who get their rocks off sucking authoritarian dick?” Never had Elaine seen someone get more pissed off when they got what they wanted from her. Though it kind of made sense, enough sense for Elaine to find herself taming another wave of guilt, she locked it away for safekeeping, and did her best to trap her self hatred with it. Those feelings could toss her about later when Allie was safe and Elaine was free to wallow in peace, she had purpose now.

“What I did that day was a mistake. I’m not going to make excuses, I’m going to take action. Do you want to argue back and forth about my fuckup or do you want to get this shit done?” Elaine was doing what she did best, at least, which was keep cool even when her insides were screaming. That seemed to quell Lexi, who stayed quiet for a moment, sulking and letting her anger roil for a bit before replying. 

“Fine. Let’s go.” Her tone had at the very least become slightly less venomous, in the same sense that a king cobra was slightly less venomous than a black mamba. Nevertheless, In a moment a glowing blue portal had appeared in Elaine’s apartment, presumably leading to wherever Lexi’s base of operations was. Lexi motioned Elaine forward. “After you, Slip.”

“Thanks. You can call me Elaine, by the way.” At that Lexi simply stared in annoyance.

“Yeah no shit you think I found your address without figuring out your secret identity first? Honestly, whoop-dee-doo your name is Elaine how special.” She suddenly calmed right up, staring at me in shock. “Wait, Elaine, that’s, you’re not, you don’t mean?” Her eyes were wide, confused, if she weren’t a mad scientist in power armor fully capable of killing her, Elaine may have laughed.

“Yup.” Elaine winked, took a deep breath, reminded herself that if she died here via mad scientist it would be for Allie’s sake, then crossed the threshold.

Coming out the other end, Elaine found herself in a messy, but homey enough warehouse, packed with gadgets and other mechanical odds and ends. On the far side was a lab proper, with all the bells and whistles one might expect from a scientist villainess. It’s centerpiece was a large cylindrical chamber, whirring and blinking, covered in display panels and surrounded by medical equipment. That must have been their ‘pod.’ But before Elaine could get a solid look, Lexi crossed through the portal and immediately hit a button that caused the floor around the pod to open up and swallow it, lowering and closing a panel to reveal nothing but empty flooring.

“That’s none of your business, hero.” She spat. It seemed Lexi was quick to get over shock, a good quality in a teammate at least. “And just so you know, when we’re done here, my sister isn’t any of your business either. That’s in or out of the costume, you fucking creep.” Lexi strode across the warehouse floor, settling on a couch and fixing Elaine with a look that somehow simultaneously burned with mixed emotions, while appearing lazy and aloof.

“Alright, you’ve got me here. What’s your plan, you said I’m the missing piece?” Elaine watched Lexi expectantly, and much to her frustration Lexi only threw her hands up in the air and launched into another rant.

“I don’t know, okay? All I know is I was looking at connections, as I do and I kept trying to find new angles to rescue Allie, but they were all bound to fail and -”

“Wait, hang on. What are connections? Is your power that you can see the future?” Elaine interjected, causing Lexi to look at her as though Elaine had asked Lexi if she had wings.

“No, what the fuck? If I could see the future we wouldn’t have even gone out that night. Honestly are all heroes this dumb? Is that how they keep you complacent and dancing to the tune of your corporate masters?” When that didn’t seem to actually help Elaine understand anything useful Lexi launched herself off the couch, beginning to pace.

“Honestly, I’ve been publicly doing villainy for months now and nobody has figured out my power? Is everyone that dumb or do they just not care?” Lexi was getting increasingly agitated, and it was far from productive, but any attempt to calm her down coming from the woman responsible for her sister’s capture seemed like a recipe for disaster.

“Well, to be fair you’ve never actually accomplished anything besides make eyes at Sentinel while she fails to see you’re clearly just doing this for her attention.” Before Elaine had time to consider the fact that teasing Lexi was probably not the route to calming her down she’d been looking for, Lexi hurled herself into another tirade.

“That’s ridiculous! Honestly, what kind of stupid, delusional person would ever think that I, that I l-liked Sentinel and anyway we have way more important things to worry about that aren’t about Sentinel because she’s just my nemesis and nothing more. Things like me! Like my powers. First thing you need to understand: my power is that I can see cause-effect relationships. It’s tough to do so out in the wide world, too many variables. But it’s very useful in the controlled environment of my lab. Inventing, experimenting and planning are my specialty, as you can see.” She puffed out her chest proudly, seeming to expect some kind of response from Elaine. For her part, Elaine was mostly just trying to get her companion back on track.

“Okay, cool, so your power is you can make good plans. Want to tell me just what the plan actually is?” She tried to keep her tone guiding, but it was impossible to keep the edge of impatience out. Lexi seemed, for a moment, ready to insult her once again. But, upon realizing that helping Allie was the entire point, she conceded.

“That’s the problem. I’ve been trying for days to come up with something, I’ve thought of every contingency, every hiccup, but always always always things would go wrong. Some cause had some effect somewhere and I would fail. That is, until I started adding you into the equation. Suddenly all these new possible causal relationships were formed. And some of them, somehow led to us winning.” 

“Okay and what happens in those plans? This doesn’t seem like much of a problem to me.” Trying to guide her away from monologuing and get to the actual point could be a full time job.

“If you’d stop interrupting me I was getting to that. The problem is that even in a controlled environment, we’re planning for a real world battle, there are just too many variables to account for on my own. I do have a plan, but there’s so many different ways it could go that there’s still no guarantee of success. We could do all that, take all that risk, fight that hard and still fail.” With that admission Lexi seemed downright miserable, defeated, hopeless.

“There is no perfect plan, Lexi. Things fail, it’s how this goes. But we have to try.” Elaine couldn’t believe it, but she felt like actually comforting the woman in front of her. They’d both lost someone important, but Lexi and Allie had presumably known one another their entire lives.

“But you don’t understand, it has to work. I can’t lose her. Not after I finally saved her from - from the other thing.” Lexi unfolded then and there. There wasn’t any veneer of haughty mad scientist, no mask. No character. Elaine in that moment was looking at a woman who had nearly lost her loved-one once, and was terrified to lose her for real. “She was so miserable for so long. And then she was finally happy and then this happened and I - I couldn’t protect her. That’s my fucking job, I’m her big sister.”

“Lexi, it was my fault you couldn’t do that. I’m the one who threatened her. Who threatened you.” Even as she offered comfort Lexi was busy shaking her head.

“You did a shitty thing. But people have done shitty things to her her whole life. I was too busy playing flirty games with Sentinel to actually reach my potential. I never bothered to actually get strong, to actually become a threat. I just figured I’d be along for the ride and then those two showed up and I knew you were right. I wouldn’t have won, I hadn’t bothered preparing for a fight like that. Now though,” Lexi’s face grew dark, enraged, overcome with the grief she felt, “now those bastards are going to regret they were ever born.” She was left standing in the room, trembling, glowering at nothing, but all her rage couldn’t mask the grief, the guilt inside.

“We’ll get her out, Lexi. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m not going to turn on you this time. I’m not trying to justify myself here, but I need you to know that my plan never involved any of this. I didn’t want to see Allie or you hurt, I thought I could save her from the inside. I was wrong. I’ve felt nothing but guilt since that day, and I’m ready to suffer any consequence to save your sister. So, we’ve both got something to atone for.” She reached forward and lay a hand on Lexi’s shoulder who, surprisingly, didn’t make any move to reject the gesture. Instead she only nodded solemnly, wiping away tears.

“She always said she saw kindness lurking underneath all that hero crap. And the other you, she trusted her. You made her happy. Maybe she wasn’t wrong. You’re an idiot and a coward Slipspace, but I believe you. You want to be better.” They shared a moment, a genuine smile crossing Lexi’s face. 

“Alright, let’s get to work then. If we’re going to do this there’s something I need to know, something that’s been bothering me. This thing with Allie doesn’t add up. Why is she in prison? Every single holding cell has to be uniquely catered to counteract the prisoner’s individual power, that’s a lot of money for a non-violent offender. She should have been put in a reform program. And, for that matter, it's pretty weird that the guild suddenly started caring so much more about my 'performance' recently. That plus the fact that she wasn't put in for reform suggests that for some reason they really want her and will fight us every step of the way.” And like that a switch was flipped, and the incredulous high-strung villainess was back, though not without a more playful gleam in her eye.

“Jesus, you really genuinely don’t see it do you?” Lexi raised an eyebrow in pompous bemusement.

“Don’t see what?”

“Ugh, nevermind. Sometimes I forget what it's like to not just see connections like I do. Let me ask you something Slip, why is it, do you think, that so many villains are allowed to walk free despite failing to reform over and over again?” Her tone was that of a schoolteacher speaking to a particularly impetuous student.

“Well like I said, it’s expensive. Nobody has been able to invent any kind of power suppression tech so they need to build special holding cells to counter powers of the prisoner. It takes months to build them and during that time top tier heroes have to watch the villain ‘round the clock to be sure they don’t escape and oh shit, Lexi, do you realize what this means? Allie’s probably not actually inside the prison yet.” Relief dawned on Elaine, it really wasn’t too late, they might actually stand a chance at breaking her out. That relief was interrupted by Lexi being Lexi.

“Wow, so astute. You’re correct about the last part, everything else was wrong though. If those jagoffs wanted to invent power suppressors they’d do it in a month. Hell I could probably even do it with the time and resources.” She puffed up her chest in a braggadocious pose of masturbatory self-indulgence.

“So why don’t you?” Apparently that wasn’t the question Elaine was supposed to ask.

“Gee, I dunno Elaine, maybe I don’t want to give my enemies a new kind of weapon to use against me? My power lets me stay ahead of the curve tech wise, I don’t intend to give up my edge by doing their work for them. More importantly, as expensive as the specialized cells are, you know what’s way more profitable than power suppression? This fun little round and round we do between heroes and villains. All those toys the kiddies want of their favorite hero, their most loathed villain. The entertainment industry gets all those series and documentaries and video games. The media gets the endless news ratings from the world tuning in every night to learn just what new and exciting exploits took place. The tech world and military-industrial complex get access to the ridiculous new technology our powers continue to unlock. And behind the scenes, the guilds get a little slice of each and every bit of all of that.” As much as Lexi reveled in performing imperious annoyance, she had clearly prepared her little speech in advance. 

“So what? We’re just products to them?” 

“Yeah, basically. It’s like wrestling, Elaine, we’re just actors playing out longform stories for the public to enjoy. And as long as we don’t break kayfabe, as long as the villains don’t start killing people, as long as the heroes keep their public images clean, as long as nobody asks too many questions everyone walks away richer.” The metaphor seemed sensible enough to Elaine, if nothing else Lexi certainly acted the part of flamboyant heel. There was, however, one glaring inconsistency.

“So isn’t Allie getting sentenced to prison a big counterpoint to that idea?” Elaine should have been used to navigating the conversation at this point, but somehow she seemed perfectly skilled at charging headlong into the minefield that was Lexi and blowing up each and every one of her nerves along the way. This time, at the very least Lexi’s response was simply an exaggerated eye roll. It seemed even she could get tired of playing her part.

“No, Slip. Allie and I broke the most important rule of all: accept the status quo. We stole from all of their corporate buddies and threatened their profit. We threatened to show people that they didn’t need to pay for a basic necessity. And that’s dangerous, that makes people realize all the other ways they’re getting fucked in the ass. The last thing they want is the masses realizing things could be better without corporate masters. That's probably why your boss man started caring about what happened with Allie, and also obviously why Siren and Kraken got sent out. Before, you were just a low grade actor in his little play, now you're fighting someone he actually has reason to care about stopping.” Well, go off, then, comrade DeLEXIous.

“And I guess your powers showed you all this?”
“I mean, more or less, it helped prove it to me, but it doesn’t take a superpower to see there’s a lot riding on keeping things the way they are. Aren’t you supposed to be one of those jaded heroes that doesn’t trust the system anyway?” Lexi quickly realized she’d hit a sore spot when Elaine flinched, looking away in guilt. She was supposed to be jaded, but she’d always been too scared to actually ask the questions she needed to. “Hey, um, it’s fine. Look, I know I was mad at you, still kind of am to be honest. But maybe I wasn’t being entirely fair. Not everyone gets radicalized as easy as Allie and I did. And we're doing that for you now. At least I hope that’s what’s happening.”

“Ugh, you’re right. I’ve heard enough. Allie is in danger, that’s all the reason I should need for wanting to turn against all of them.” She glanced down to her suit, which was currently still crumpled up in her hand. Maybe see if you can iron that while we’re still figuring out the plan. Speaking of which, “so uh, you said you had a plan. What is it? I assume we want to make our move before or during her transfer?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, you didn’t honestly think we were going to pull this job just the two of us, did you?” Suddenly there was a glint in Lexi’s eyes. A certain excitement, a gleeful ‘I know something you don’t know’ sewn into every word.

“I mean, I guess it does sound pretty crazy to think we could do it just the two of us. But I don’t think I know anyone else who could help. I guess maybe I could get my friend Tic to mess with the dispatch again, but he’s not much help in a fight. His powers are, well, unreliable.” Tic’s ability to gain incredible combat skill, speed and strength only every other second meant taking him along to a fight was a roll of the dice every time, he was often as much a hindrance as a help. Lexi seemed largely disinterested, though.

“That’s not the worst idea, but no, I’ve got someone much better in mind. The very best, if you will. In fact, she should be here right about now.” For the first time since Lexi had burst through her wall, Elaine saw what appeared to be a genuine gleam of excitement in Lexi’s eye as she flashed a giddy grin and, at the clap of her hands, two panels on the ceiling began to swing open, revealing a skylight. Mere moments later, Elaine watched in bemused fascination as a woman descended through the skylight, carried by an intricate set of propulsion devices placed all across her armor - which resembled a set of greek hoplite armor given a cyberpunk makeover. 

Wracking her brain as to the newcomer’s identity, Elaine nearly didn’t notice her land gracefully and approach. That armor was unfamiliar, kind of anyway. It was reminiscent of someone else, but she couldn’t place who. Was there a new villainess in town? The woman drew up to Elaine, revealing herself as downright amazonian. At the touch of a button, the faceshield of her Corinthian helm slid away to reveal a stunning, familiar face. Are you fucking kidding me?

“You must be Slipspace right? DeLEXIous told me you’d be joining us, for, well, whatever this is. Speaking of which you’d better start explaining as soon as I’m done with the introductions.” She called, shooting a suspicious, but in no way malicious gaze toward Lexi, who tried to wink, but in her excitement just blinked. The heroine returned her gaze to Elaine, now clearly looking a little flushed. Elaine shifted her eyes incredulously between the apprehensive heroine and Lexi, who was bouncing her eyebrows up and down suggestively while grinning in dizzy excitement. With a nervous throat-clear the newcomer spoke again, “my apologies, Slipspace perhaps this is rather confusing, I recently had a change of wardrobe and you may be unfamiliar with what I look like outside the costume. My name is -”

“Sentinel, yeah I know.” 

SapphicSounds

Hello my lovely readers! Thank you for reading, If you haven't had a chance yet, you should check out my other story Searching For Normal here 

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