Radiant Reunion

Part One: Sex and Conversation

Mary Makepeace let out a sigh of relief, wiping her brow, and standing back to stare for a moment at the room before her. The conference room had been cleaned to the point of gleaming and sparkling, thanks to all of her hard work. It was a point of pride to her; despite her status among the HeroGuild, she took her duties as a maid very seriously. Whether it was helping those in need, mentoring, aiding new heroes, or simply tidying up, she took a measure of pride in a job well done.

“Hello, Mary.”

Gasping in surprise, she turned, whirling around to find another person standing before her. The woman, like her, was a blonde, full-figured, beautiful woman. Unlike her, however, the newcomer stood several inches taller and was dressed in a familiar, provocative, skin-tight black leotard, thigh-high boots, and elbow-length gloves, with a red sash tied around her waist. While Mary, even in her platform heels, stood five and a half feet tall, the newcomer would have towered over the svelte maid by several inches even if she had been wearing flats.

“Oh! I... Omega Girl?” she answered, taken aback. “I, um... hello. I didn’t... expect to see you,” she said awkwardly, blushing heatedly. “How did you get in, if I might ask? The base is locked up tight…”

“Yes, well, I’ve learned a few tricks since the last time we saw each other,” she replied, staring at her impassively. “It’s good to see you again, Mary Makepeace,” she said, before pausing, head tilted to the side. “Or... would you prefer Valorine Dawson?”

“I go by Mary pretty exclusively nowadays, but you can call me Val if you like,” she sighed softly and sat at a corner of the table. “Please,” she gestured to a chair across from her. “I’ve been waiting for this day, just as much as I’ve been dreading it.”

Lacie gave her a soft smile. “Yeah, I can relate. I’ve felt the same way.” She sighed deeply. “You know, Val... I have a confession to make. I’ve... actually known where to find you for more than fifteen years now.” Mary blinked. “It’s true. My... powers,” she said hesitantly, considering what exactly to reveal. “Let’s just say that after I mastered my new abilities, I found that I could locate pretty much anyone I had to if the need arose. And so... I managed to find you, and discover what had happened to you.”

“So... you know what happened, then?” Mary murmured softly. Lacie nodded.

“I was rather hurt when you disappeared all those years ago,” she said softly, glancing down at her feet. “I was hurt even more when I found you all those years later, finding you alive and well... but that you’d still never returned, never came back to see me.”

She shook her head. “I’d wanted to confront you about it... but as I Saw you, saw the kind of life you’d built for yourself with the HeroGuild, I decided that, well... after everything you’ve been through, you didn’t need me interfering, disturbing this new life you’d made for yourself.”

Mary nodded. “Thank you for that. My life as Radiant precluded any kind of private life. The closest I came were the moments I could steal away with your father. And those were the best moments of my life as Valorine Dawson.” Her voice caught and she swallowed. “Then here I was, about to have twins, and I realized: with Radiant gone, I could keep my kids safe and, more importantly, with me. I had to give up kids before to make sure they had a better life, or to keep them safe. Now I didn’t have to.”

Lacie sighed softly, finally raising her head. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. How much you... meant to me. You were more than just my mentor, Val... you were my friend. And, um... I was,” she swallowed, eyes growing wet, “I had hoped... maybe you would have become... my new mother.”

“I wish I could have,” Mary replied, her own eyes tearing up. “But it would have destroyed your secret identity and put James at even greater risk. That was why I was gone for months at a time! To prevent anybody from knowing what you and he meant to me!” She sniffled, shaking her head. “I was so afraid of leading danger to the two of you, that I ended up neglecting you. Did you know your father asked me to marry him?” Lacie gasped, stunned. “It’s true. I waffled and hemmed and hawed and wouldn’t give him a definite answer.” She sighed glancing down. “And then Doctor Cyber captured me, and I never saw him again.”

Lacie sobered, sighing deeply. “I have to be honest with you, Valorine,” she said softly. “I did have an... ulterior motive for coming to visit you this evening.” She glanced away softly. “As I said before... I have missed you very much. And... I regret that I didn’t come to visit you sooner. I love you very much. And I let my hurt... my pride... keep me away.” She shook her head. “I always thought there was time, that eventually, I’d get up the nerve to seek you out... or that you would come find me.”

Mary nodded softly, reaching out to touch Lacie’s hand. “I know. I feel the same. And I too always meant to seek you out one day... to try and talk to you, explain what happened.” She sighed. “But... when I finally remembered my past, when I realized what had happened to James... I just… I felt so guilty. I just couldn’t bring myself to face you again.” She hung her head. “I know... it’s stupid and selfish... but I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you, seeing the disappointment in your eyes—”

Lacie rose, pulling the other woman into a hug. “It’s fine, love. Water under the bridge. And believe me, I understand exactly how you felt. So much time lost over something so foolish...”

After a moment of comfortable silence between them, Lacie comments idly. “I have to say, Val, that you look amazing for your age.” Feeling her stiffen in her arms, Lacie chuckled. “Not that I’m calling you old or anything. It’s just that I’m in my sixties and look like I’m thirty. You’re in your nineties and you look like you’re in your twenties!”

Mary laughed aloud, pulling back slightly to meet Lacie’s gaze. “I’ll have you know I’m in my late eighties, although if you count the century and a half I spent in another dimension in 1968, I’m more like two hundred sixty. Don’t you have any respect for your elders, young lady?” she joked.

Lacie laughed right back. “Well, technically, I could say the same for you, Val. I mean, you’re only a century or three old. So I’m technically your senior by a few years.”

That piqued Mary’s interest. “Really? By how much?”

“Hmmm...” Lacie mused aloud, smiling and stepping back before a shimmering glow overtook her. Mary blinked, gaping as her trademarked black costume faded away, replaced by a long, shimmering white and silver Greek-style toga and simple flat leather and gold sandals on her feet. Glowing with a soft radiant life, she smirked. “Oh... about infinity, plus or minus sixty-two years?”

To Mary’s surprise, Lacie briefly related the details of her life in the years during her absence, finding out the truth about her mother Amelia, meeting her grandmother Vurdra, being taken to Yggdrasil, and discovering that she was a Nornir goddess. Fascinated, she listened, processing her fantastical tale, but believing the evidence before her eyes. “And so, basically,” she finished, “I’m now the reincarnated avatar of Verdandi, scion of present time, and guardian of the Great Weave that guides the fabric of all reality.” She chuckled ruefully. “And if that sounds crazy to you, imagine how I feel! This is my life now, and I still sometimes have trouble believing it.”

Mary stared in amazement, then giggled. Lacie quirked an eyebrow, and Mary shook her head. “I just remembered something I said to your father the night of your sixteenth birthday. He was freaking out about giving you permission to be a superhero, and I told him, ‘They grow up so fast.’ I had no idea how right I was!” She laughed again. Getting herself under control, she stated, “I’m so glad we were able to reconnect like this. We can take the time to get to know each other all over again.”

Lacie’s smile faded. “Yes… You would think,” she murmured. “But that’s the reason why I had to come see you! Time... is running out.”

“Wait. What do you mean?” Mary asked, concerned. “Time is running out for who?”

“For everyone,” Lacie stated grimly. “For the entire world. Some day soon a cataclysm will occur, and the world as we know it will cease to exist. My sisters and I have been working tirelessly to try to find a way to avert it... but nothing has worked.” She sighed. “We have weeks... maybe a month, before the end of the world.” Mary gaped at her, stunned. “And, well,” Lacie said softly, “I’ve come to realize what’s most important to me, what I cherish the most... is my family.” She took Mary’s hand in her own, squeezing gently. “And that includes you, Val.”

Mary met Lacie’s gaze for a few minutes, then nodded. “Okay. So, do you want a quick tour of the place?”

Lacie blinked. “Just like that?” she asked, confused. “I tell you the world is about to end and you just accept it out of hand?”

“Is there anything I can do about it?”

Lacie shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Then, to quote Nick Fury, ‘Until such time as the world ends, I will proceed as though it intends to spin on.’ Now come on.”

Lacie, reverted back to her Omega Girl costume again, nodded appreciatively, glancing around the facility as Mary showed her the base. “Impressive. You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like being part of a hero team,” she mused aloud. “I actually tried that a few times in River City... put out the word, invited others to work with me on a permanent basis...” She shrugged. “But it just never clicked. I guess in the beginning I was too new and too green... then once I started making a name for myself, I guess it was the opposite—everyone was too scared or intimidated to work with me.”

“I think having a home base helped HeroGuild keep together,” Mary replied, stopping at and calling an elevator. “I mean, really, the only permanent parts of the team are the base and the support staff. The supers rotate in and out as needed. We keep on good terms with former members, or,” she chuckled, “as Captain Lightning has called them, ‘once and future members’.

“Of course, the financial stipend all the members receive has helped supers trying to maintain middle-class secret identities. It’s a lot less stressful when you don’t have to worry that saving the world will cost you your livelihood.” Mary shrugged, stepping into the lift as the doors opened. “It’s a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Lacie sighed softly. “Thankfully, that’s one concern I don’t have to worry about. I have had my share of partners, though. Most specifically, my husband, Eugene. We’ve worked well together for years, since the very beginning, really... but he’s pretty much retired now.” She smiled a bit. “You have to meet him sometime soon, you’d love him.” She considered. “Oh, and Eva, of course. My ‘other partner’, Dr. Evangeline Snow. You would absolutely love her...” Lacie blinked, then paused, considering that something had occurred to her. “Um... Val?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Can I ask you a... personal question?” Lacie began, starting to blush.

“Of course, you can ask me anything. Go ahead.”

“Um, well... this may come totally out of left field and all, so, er... try not to get upset,” she began, before glancing away briefly. Ugh... can’t believe I’m really saying this out loud, she thought to herself. “Did you ever have... thoughts... about me...?” she asked, awkwardly.

“Of course,” Mary replied, instantly. They left the elevator into a corridor. A sign pointing to the right said ‘Guest Quarters’. Leading Lacie to the left, she continued, “I thought about you all the time! You and your father. And I am again, very sorry that I stayed away so long—”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Lacie cut in, her blush deepening. “I, um... I meant... er... sexual thoughts...” Mary blinked, her jaw-dropping. “NOT when I was a teenager, I mean!” she added quickly. “Nothing like that! And not in a creepy way. I meant... um... later,” she said softly, her face practically so red it was glowing. “Oh goddess bless... I probably sound like a crazy person right now…”

“Not at all,” Mary assured her. She unlocked a door, ushering Lacie in. “These are my quarters. Have a seat,” she headed for the kitchen. “I’m making coffee. Would you like something to drink?”

“I would like a coffee, please,” Lacie replied as Mary set up the coffee maker. Lacie sighed softly as she sat at the breakfast bar. “Another small confession? Growing up, I had a tiny little crush on you,” she admitted. “Oh, I recognize it was totally hero worship. Wasn’t sexual at all... um, at that point, anyway. But you represented the ideal heroine to me... the model I wanted to emulate, to grow into.” Mary smiled at that, blushing as well. “But, um... as I grew up a bit, and matured, you stayed on my mind for... different reasons.” Sighing deeply, she decided to just take the plunge. “You know how my Goddess Sight allowed me to find you? And to keep track of you in case I needed to reach you?” Mary nodded. “Well... hehehe... um... it also allowed to... see... some of your activities as well…”

Mary knew where this was going, but couldn’t resist letting Lacie squirm. “Um... okay?” she said slowly, her face a mask of innocence. “I’m sorry, I still don’t follow—”

Lacie murmured, “I, um... peeked in on you one time while you were... um... enjoying the company of some of your... fellow heroes. And heroines.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

Finally, Lacie blurted, “Sex.”

Mary managed to hold the innocent look long enough to say, “Now was that so hard?” Then she cracked up.

Lacie grabbed a sugar cube from a bowl on the counter and threw it at her. “Oh, you bitch!” she laughed.

After the laughter died down, Lacie took a very deep breath. “Listen, Val. I don’t mean to embarrass you or anything. And I don’t want you to think of me as some... creepy stalker who spends all her time peeping in on your private moments. I swear, it was only that one...” she paused, blushing, “two… Ah, fuck it, four times! But... they really made an impact.” She sighed again. “And, well, as I said, I’ve come to realize what’s most important to me in this life. Time is short, and I don’t want to have any regrets... to look back again and regret all the time lost, and decisions not made out of fear.

Mary nodded, understanding fully. She was about to reach for the coffee pot, then paused. “When would you like to do this?”

“...Now?”

Mary stepped over to Lacie, pulling the lace hat from her head and letting her hair cascade down to her shoulders. Lacie stood to meet her and realized the other woman was at eye level. She hadn’t realized Mary had left the floor. Her movements suggested she was walking on an invisible platform rather than flying. On reflex, Lacie glanced at Mary’s feet—

“Look at me,” Mary ordered, her voice quiet but brooked no defiance.

Lacie’s eyes snapped back to Mary’s. “Oh! S-Sorry, Val—”

“You will address me as Miss Mary or Ma’am,” Mary replied, smiling wickedly. “There is no Val here.”

Lacie’s blush returned full force, shuddering slightly in pleasure at the dominant tone from the other woman. “Yes, Ma’am,” she replied instantly, demurely. Mary chuckled aloud.

“I see. I think I understand EXACTLY what you want now, sweetie,” she said, as she slowly, sensually disrobed. “I’ll admit it, this is a bit of role reversal for me. It’s usually ME that is being dominated and ordered around. But I feel like you’d prefer to be the one forced to submit this time,” she said, gently but firmly grasping Lacie’s chin, forcing her eyes back up to her own. “Isn’t that right… girl?”

Practically swimming in arousal, the hapless blonde replied back eagerly. “Yes, Ma’am,” she said, sounding nearly breathless. “Please, Ma’am.”

“Oh, but of course,” Mary Makepeace replied, pulling her into a deep passionate kiss. “We always aim to please.”

***

Mary gave a luxurious stretch, arching her back and reaching high above her head, as she knelt between the legs of her companion. She gazed at the tall blonde, laying naked and tied spread-eagle on the bed, skin glistening with sweat. The bound woman’s breathing was ragged, more from the multiple orgasms she had just experienced than the ball-gag between her teeth. Mary had been riding the taller woman pretty hard, and was giving her a moment to catch her breath.

She reached down and removed the gag, then asked with a purr, “How was that?”

Lacie gulped air as her breathing stabilized. “Aww, Goddess, that was amazing! Not just what you did but how this bed hasn’t been completely destroyed.” She gave a strong tug with both arms and legs, from which the frame didn’t budge. “How’d you manage that?”

Mary placed her hands on Lacie’s hips and slid them up the sides of her body. Once they reached a point just below the bound woman’s the arms and behind the tits, the hands tightened like iron on the ribcage, making Lacie cry out in surprise, if not actual pain. “Is that the way you ask, plaything?”

“No, Ma’am! Sorry, Ma’am!”

Mary’s hands relaxed but didn’t move as she came in to give Lacie a passionate kiss. But as the lip-lock continued, the hands began flexing, tickling Lacie mercilessly, causing her to squeal into Mary’s kiss while her helpless body squirmed in their bonds.

“Now, now, Pet,” Mary teased wickedly, raking her hands up and down her sensitive blonde playmate’s perfectly sculpted form, “you didn’t think we were done already, did you? No, no, sweetness,” she said, leaning forward to take a hard stiff nipple between her lips, sucking long and hard before continuing. “there’s still much more fun to be had. And a girl as tough,” she said, biting down hard on Lacie’s nipple, making her scream, “and strong,” she added, leaning back, slapping her breast hard enough to leave a red hand imprint, “as you… you can take a lot more. A whole lot more…”

Gasping, panting with lust, Lacie nodded eagerly, the pain in her breasts transforming into pleasure, leaving her wanting more. “Show me, Mistress,” she husked, writhing gently in her bonds, pressing her naked body up against Mary’s. “Use me… use me fully! For your pleasure, like a toy, an object, a simple tool. Fuck me… no… Fuck yourself WITH me,” she begged.

Blinking, Mary chuckled softly, nodding, the urge to do exactly that resonating in her mind. “A fine suggestion, my little plaything!” Sitting up, she reversed her position, lowering herself onto Lacie’s face, sighing softly as the eager submissive heroine reacted instantly, extending her tongue outward, thrusting it upwards and into Mary’s hot wet pussy. “Mmmmm… ooohh yeeess…” she hissed, grinding herself against the woman’s face, holding tightly to sides as she rode her, letting loose all restraint, bouncing up and down on the younger woman’s face, knowing she could take it.

“Oohhhh! Oohhhh! Oohhhh! Fuuucccckk!!” Mary chanted eyes going half-lidded in pleasure. “Goddamn… your tonguee… Goddess!! Sooo fuccking good!” she hissed. Spreading her legs, using her superhuman flexibility, she flattened herself out, forcing her slave’s tongue even deeper inside her pussy, feeling that clever dexterous muscle, simultaneously harder than iron, yet somehow soft, pliant and malleable, moving and working its way inside her, hitting all her most sensitive spots. Her own body began to shake and shudder, feeling the tremors of a rapidly approaching orgasm.

For her part, Lacie was in heaven. Being ridden this way, used and debased, treated as nothing more than a living dildo for her Mistress… it brought her to the very heights of submissive pleasure. Her own wet dripping pussy was practically on fire, and had her hands been free, they would have been delving deep inside herself, fingers a virtual blur of movement in her desperation to cum. And yet, being helpless this way, being denied permission and the ability to cum… only made the ache of her arousal all the sweeter. Soft submissive whimpers and moans escaped her lips, the vibrations pushing her lover past the point of no return, setting off Mary’s powerful climax.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! YYYEESSSSSS!! GAAWWDDD YEESSSS!!” Mary Makepeace screamed, hands clenching tightly, nails digging into Lacie’s sides hard enough to draw blood, her pussy clamping down on her furiously, holding her pinned, all but smothering the submissive girl, drowning her in a flood of pussy juice as she came and came and came, Lacie’s tongue continuing to lick and thrust and fuck her all the while, keeping her in a state of continuous climax… until finally, finally, her oversensitized body could stand no more, and she pulled away, rolling off of Lacie, who immediately gasped, breathing deeply for the first time in several minutes.

Regaining her senses, Mary peered down at her lover, chuckling softly, noticing her aroused state. “Not bad, Pet,” she murmured, reaching down to caress Lacie’s bare shaven pussy, feeling the heat and wetness from her pussy exposed labia, and her hard little clitty, nearly pulsing with need. “Not bad at all. I guess… you deserve a little reward for all your hard work,” she said, leaning forward, kissing Lacie deep and hard, just as her fingers slipped seamlessly inside her pussy, triggering Lacie’s own release. She couldn’t help but giggle evilly as she held fast to the orgasm wracked blonde, her body shuddering like a living vibrator, nearly enough to bring Mary off one last time. Nearly. Instead, she continued stroking and teasing her sweet little slave until her tremors finally wound down and the girl collapsed, going limp in her arms.

Later, Mary had released her prisoner from her bonds, and the two cuddled on the bed. “Was that what you needed, my sweet girl?”

“Mmmm,” Lacie murmured. “Just about, yeah.”

Mary lightly petted Lacie’s hair as she held her. “I was a fool for staying away so long,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lacie replied sleepily.

Mary closed her eyes and began to drift off. She felt Lacie move suddenly to rise and straddle her. She reopened her eyes to see Lacie’s blonde hair had become a glossy black. The irises of her eyes were a solid black as well, and the expression she had could best be described as a cold smile, emphasis on cold. “My turn, now,” she stated.

“Lacie..?”

Lacie slid up to be astride Mary’s neck, legs pinning her arms down. “It’s MY turn to play, now,” she declared with a wicked grin. “Little Lacie might be happy, but I still have a beef that needs to be settled.”

Mary, who had spent the last thirty years honing her skills at reading people to tailor her sexual services to provide the perfect experience, immediately shifted gears from dominant to submissive. “Use me, Mistress,” she sighed, never losing eye contact.

Dark Star quirked an eyebrow. “Mmmm… you’re very quick on the uptake, sweet one… good. I like that in a potential pet. Just know that I am not as easy to please as my little goody-goody sub persona is. You've been a VERY naughty girl... and while Lacie has forgiven you completely, I have not. You'll have to EARN your way into my good graces…”

Mary could tell, she wanted a fight. “I’ll be a good pet, Mistress,” she whimpered petulantly, “but not an easy one.” She suddenly turned her head slightly and BIT her partner’s inner thigh, eliciting an outraged yelp.

Dark Star grinned, wide and feral, and began to ride her captive.

Dark Star sighed softly, much enjoying the feel of the beauty writhing beneath her. It had been far too long since she’d been allowed to ‘play’, to run free and stretch her legs a bit. Lacie Frasier was very content with her life, more than happy in a subservient role. As a mother, as a teacher, as a husband, even as a super hero, her job was always to serve and help others around her, to do her best to make them happy. It was large part of her very being. A large part… but not the complete part by any means. Dark Star was her compliment, the yang to Lacie’s yin, the part of herself that enjoyed being selfish, that desired pleasure for her OWN sake over those of others. And unlike her submissive counterpart, SHE relished being in control, bending those around her to her will, and dominating them for her amusement.

It was a strange coincidence that her daughter Katie had inherited these same traits, only moreso, her submissive streak even deeper and more pronounced, and her counterpart, Supernova, even MORE dominant and commanding, when unleashed.

Of course, at the moment, thoughts of her daughter were far from her mind. Withdrawing from her submissive lover’s face, she sighed heavily, shaking her head in disappointment. “Pathetic,” she sneered, reaching out to slap Mary’s face none to gently. The surprised woman gasped, taken aback, momentarily. “I know you said you would not make this easy for me… but I didn’t expect you to make it boring for me either. I would THINK that a super slut like yourself would be much better eating out your owner’s pussy...”

Sensing her Mistress mood, Mary lowered her head. “Forgive me, Mistress. Please… I can do better! I swear!”

Smirking, Dark Star lifted the smaller woman up off the bed. “Can? You WILL do better, slut,” she growled grinning evilly, pulling her into a deep tight kiss. Mary’s eyes widened before rolling back into their sockets as a tingle of Omega Energy crackled through her, from the lip to lip contact. Unlike Omega Girl, Dark Star was extremely proficient in wielding her unique energy, using it to temporarily darken and negate the electrical impulses in parts of Mary’s brain. Stunned, dazed, she could only blink idly, shuddering as Dark Star used her like a doll, positioning her as she saw fit. A few whispered words in her ears slipped by completely unnoticed, past her conscious mind into her subconscious, and when she finally blinked, coming back to awareness again, Mary found herself repositioned on the bed, her naked body folded her up into a tight, brutal, inverted hogtie, with her legs spread wide and lashed up to her ankles.

“Now, my petite little darling,” Dark Star murmured sweetly, lowering her pussy back down on Mary’s face once more, “let’s see if this new position doesn’t give you a bit more… incentive.” Holding on tightly, using Mary’s bare feet as handlebars, she began riding the tightly restrained heroine again. When she didn’t immediately begin licking, a sharp sting of pain erupted from her backside, causing Mary to gasp and jerk slightly, the feeling of having her cute sexy ass spanked registering in her brain. Motivated, she began again, licking, sucking, tonguing and thrusting inside her Mistress’ hot sexy inner folds, trying to be a good girl, and please her.

Only to gasp and moan aloud, squirming pleasurably as she felt her OWN pussy being licked in return. Her eyes opened wide, and she stared up at the heavenly body sitting astride her, feeling Lacie’s hands gripping her feet, knowing they were alone in her room… that there could not be a third person licking and nibbling lightly on her clit… yet the more she ate out her lover’s pussy, the more intensely she felt her own pussy being eaten. Another deep groan escaped her lips… and she paused, the pleasure causing her attention to wane… only to yelp again as another sharp spank on her backside registered, causing her to renew and redouble her efforts.

“Mmmm… yes, yes… much better,” Dark Star sighed, grinding herself into the sexy blonde. In truth, she had had this exact fantasy involving her former mentor a number of times, both in dominating her, and being dominated BY her, hearing her soft sexy moans, and sighs, her groans of pleasure, her gasps and cries of pain, and most of all, the pussy gushing sounds of her primal desperate begging. Dark Star’s arousal was climbing up and up, ever higher, ever closer to that glorious peak, that moment of no return. And thanks to a little mental editing, her devoted slave slut’s arousal was mirroring hers, bringing Mary closer and closer to an explosive orgasm…

One that she would be unable to achieve without Lacie’s permission.

“Uhhhnn… uhhhhnn.. ooohhh yesss… goddess yess… yeesss! YESSS! FUCK YESSS!” she hissed, head going back in pleasure as she came, flooding Mary’s face with her juices. Shuddering in deep satisfaction, she smiling, coming back down to feel the petite beauty writhing beneath her, her body twitching and rocking back and forth in need.

Her tongue continued to lap away desperately inside Dark Star’s nether region, licking harder, deeper, faster, feeling the same sensations in her OWN needy pussy, desperately trying to push herself over the edge. Grinning evilly, Dark Star began raking her finger lightly up and down Mary’s bare soles, teasing and tickling her delicate arches, causing the powerful blonde to burst into hysterical laughter.

“BWAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAA! GAAAWWDDESSS!! NAAHAHAHAHAATTT THAHAHAT!” she begged even as he hips began thrusting wildly up and down, fucking the air. The tickling had overwhelmed her brain, mixing with the pleasure and sent her arousal skyrocketing, like pouring jet fuel onto an open fire. Furthermore, her desperate laughter and wild bucking only increased the stimulating for Dark Star, her pussy still pressed firmly against Mary’s open squealing mouth.

“Oooh… such a sensitive little thing aren’t you?” Dark Star taunted her, teasing and wiggling Mary’s tiny little toes. “Such a fun little toy you are to play with. And… so easy to break,” she added, leaning forward, lifting Mary’s left foot, sucking idly on her big toe briefly, causing the sexy blonde to squeal all the more, hips writhing and trembling in sexual overload. “But… its FAR too soon to break you yet, my petite,” she added, smirking. “So… for being such a good girl for me so far, as a little reward… you will cum every time you feel me sucking on these cute little cherry toes of yours.” She chuckled darkly hearing and feeling Mary’s muffled response. “And, of course, since you have ten toes… well, you do the math,” she concluded, sucking on Mary’s wiggling toes again, one by one…

The next hour was a whirlwind of pleasure and torment for dear Mary. After the orgasm marathon, her Mistress had released her bonds, and proceeded to subject her to an alternating buffet of pleasure and pain, from spanking, to flogging, to light bastinado upon her delicate soles, to bondage so strict it was practically mummification… intermingled between sensual massage, genuine lovemaking, rough, hard deviant sex, ass play, and pretty much everything in between. The sheer intensity and duration of their sex play would have utterly destroyed lesser beings, and in the end, even both Mary and Lacie, with their superhuman stamina, were nearly exhausted. Both were extremely satisfied, however, with Dark Star lightly slapping her ass, then giving her ‘slave’ a final kiss before fading, returning control back to Lacie once more.

***

Mary and Lacie, fully clothed, emerged from the bedroom, Mary wearing an enormous smile, Lacie carrying a look of satisfaction and contentment. Lacie sat on the couch, and Mary moved to the kitchenette. She checked and quickly dumped the coffee she had started before they headed to the bedroom and started a fresh pot.

Lacie accepted the coffee as Mary sat beside her, and set it aside. In her Omega Girl costume, her high boots left her upper thighs bare, and Lacie lightly traced the bite-shaped bruise blossoming on her inseam mere inches from her crotch. “I can’t believe you bit hard enough to leave a mark.”

“Maybe we should head up to the infirmary and have Dr. Reynolds take a look at it.”

Lacie chuckled. “I don’t think it’s that serious. It’ll be gone in a couple hours.”

“True,” Mary replied with a smirk, “but it’s an excuse to introduce you to someone.”

***

Emma was doing paperwork in her office when she heard someone enter the infirmary outside her door. “Emma?” she heard a familiar voice call. From the tone, it didn’t sound like an emergency. “Are you free?”

“I’m in here, Mary,” she called back, not rising. “What do you need?”

“Could you come out here for a second?” Mary replied.

“Uh, sure,” she saved the document she was writing and stepped out of her office. She was surprised to see the taller blonde accompanying the maid.

“Before I make introductions,” Mary began, “I want you to know that I trust you both with my life and to be discreet. That said: “Omega Girl, this is my daughter, Doctor Emma Reynolds.”

Emma reached out and shook the heroine’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Always been a big fan.”

“And Emma,” Mary continued, “this is Lacie Frasier, your stepsister.”

Both women looked at Mary in surprise. Although Lacie had been prepared for her real name to be revealed, neither had expected being dubbed stepsisters. As Lacie’s expression turned to delight, Emma began to put things together. “Wait. I knew you two worked together in the seventies and eighties. Do you mean she’s the daughter of the fabled James? The love of your life?”

“Ah, so you’re aware of her past as Radiant?” Lacie replied.

Emma nodded. “I figured it out in high school. I had an assignment to do a profile on a hero who was no longer active, and it was coming up on the anniversary of Radiant’s disappearance, so…”

Mary continued, “Yeah, I tried to get her to choose someone else. Like Fantastic Woman, or Mighty Dave from the 30s, but no…”

Emma shrugged. “Radiant was just so iconic, you know? She was practically the face of the superhero community during the last half of the twentieth century.”

“So, Mary has been holed up in the base this entire time,” Lacie began. “Did she raise you here?”

Emma nodded. “My brother and I played in these halls while we were growing up. And she wasn’t a complete recluse. She took us and picked us up from school, came out for PTA meetings, school plays, things like that.”

“And now you work up here, too?”

“Only a couple days a week. I’m also on staff at Auburn Regional Medical Center. And I have a general practice in town.”

“Impressive. What does your husband do?” Lacie asked, noting the wedding ring on Emma’s hand.

“Jeff’s a middle school science teacher. He loves working with kids. And we have a son, Billy, six years old and the light of our lives,” she replied. “What about you, Lacie? What do you do when you’re not saving the world?”

Lacie chuckled. “Well, uh, I’m a retired college professor. I’m married to a wonderful man, Eugene. And I have two beautiful kids, twins, Katie, who is a teaching assistant at River City U, and Jimmy, who is in Midas City working toward his medical degree. I always wanted a big family, which is why I love the idea of having a new stepsister and step brother. Where is your brother, by the way? I want to meet him!”

“Eric is actually the speedster Redshift. He is with the rest of the Guild,” Mary explained, “working hurricane relief in the Caribbean.” Lacie nodded. She was aware of the problems those islands were experiencing. But she also knew, through her Goddess senses as Verdandi, that the super task force that had gathered to handle the crisis was more than capable, and that the absence of Omega Girl in the situation would do more to build confidence and teamwork in the group.

“Hey, I just thought of something,” Emma put in. “If she’s James’s daughter, wouldn’t she be my half sister, instead of my stepsister?”

Mary shook her head and chuckled, "No, Lacie's actually the one who introduced me to James. Jamie would be your half sister." She gasped. "Oh, God, Jamie! We should probably visit her next." She regarded Lacie. "How do you think she'll react to the idea of me still being in the world?" Then, noticing Lacie's shocked look, asked, "What?"

***

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lacie stormed into the base garage. “You and Dad had a child and kept it from me?!”

“I’m sorry! I always assumed he told you,” Mary exclaimed as she followed the taller woman out of the elevator. She reached into the small guard station and grabbed some keys. Then she gestured to the left. “My car is over here.”

As they approached it, Lacie marveled, “That looks just like your old Mustang.”

“It is my old Mustang. After sitting in the River City Memorial parking structure for a couple years, it was declared abandoned and sold at auction. I arranged for it’s purchase and to be brought here,” Mary explained as she climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Does it still run?” Lacie settled in on the passenger side.

Mary nodded. “Oh, yeah. The engine’s been rebuilt a couple times to stay compliant with emissions standards, and different gadgeteers over the years couldn’t resist adding extra features. You know how they love to tinker.”

Lacie gave a skeptical look. “Gadgeteers, huh? Is it safe to drive?”

“Completely,” Mary assured, then chuckled. “And even if it wasn’t, it’s us. If the car exploded, the most we would experience would be extreme embarrassment.”

“True,” Lacie conceded as they pulled out.

***

Uncommon Grounds Coffee House, Auburnville

The coffee house, typically bustling with activity, now lay in a rare state of calm on this slow afternoon. Sunlight streamed through the large windows, casting a warm glow on the polished wooden floors and the eclectic mix of mismatched chairs and tables. The air was filled with the comforting aroma of freshly ground coffee, mingling with the faint scent of baked goods from the display counter. The gentle hum of the refrigerator and the occasional hiss of the espresso machine were the only sounds breaking the silence, creating a serene atmosphere that felt almost suspended in time.

With no customers to serve, Jamie took the opportunity to meticulously clean the equipment, wiping down the counter and organizing the assortment of syrups and coffee beans. She had just finished balancing the books. A scheduling mistake had left all her employees off duty at the moment, leaving the heavyset brunette as the shop’s sole occupant. Not that this worried her: she was certain she could handle things if the shop had a sudden rush.

No sooner had that thought entered her mind than the quiet atmosphere of the coffee house was interrupted as the door swung open, ringing the small bell above it. Jamie looked up from the counter to see two women entering. Both were blonde, buxom, and attractive, but they moved with a subtle, unassuming grace that suggested they weren't seeking attention. The taller of the two wore a fitted blazer over a chic blouse and skinny jeans, her elegant heels clicking softly on the polished floor. Her companion, much shorter but equally striking, exuded a more casual vibe. The short woman sported a snug-fitting t-shirt beneath a denim jacket that matched her trendy, distressed jeans. A ballcap perched atop her head, and large sunglasses shielded her eyes, adding an air of casual anonymity.

Jamie couldn't help but feel a flicker of recognition, though she couldn't immediately place where she had seen them before. There was something about the confident way they carried themselves, a certain familiarity in their features that tugged at her memory. As they approached the counter, the tall woman glanced around the shop, her bright smile lighting up the room as she took in the cozy decor and empty tables. Meanwhile, the shorter woman was more focused, her gaze locked onto Jamie. Beneath the shadow of her ballcap and behind her large sunglasses, her lips curved into a subtle smile, suggesting she might recognize Jamie too. Jamie’s mind raced, trying to pinpoint the connection. Were they regulars? Had she seen them around town? The mystery gnawed at her, but she pushed it aside, focusing on the task at hand. "Good afternoon," Jamie greeted them with a warm smile.

“Jamie?” the shorter woman began. Her voice was very familiar. Something from long ago…

“That’s me,” she replied, knowing her name tag was visible. “What can I do for you?”

The shorter woman opened her mouth again, but seemed to be at a loss as to what to say next. Her companion stepped in. “Actually, if you have a few minutes, we would like to talk to you. Would that be okay?”

Suddenly, it clicked where Jamie had seen the taller woman before. “Sure,” she answered, moving around the counter. The trio sat at the nearest table.

The taller woman began, “My name is—”

“Lacie,” Jamie cut her off with a grin. “It took me a second, but I never forget a face.”

Lacie was taken aback. “Have we met before?”

Jamie nodded. “It’s not surprising you don’t remember me. I was only ten at the time, and you had other things on your mind.” At Lacie’s confused look, she supplied, “It was at my Uncle Jim’s funeral.”

“Your Uncle Jim’s…” Suddenly, Lacie’s thoughts flew back thirty years to her father’s memorial service. After, as the mourners paid their respects, her Aunt Lizbeth, her Dad’s younger sister, hugged her and returned to her husband. She watched as their daughter placed a rose on the casket. She spoke to them later and learned her name… She straightened up. “Jamie! I do remember! You’re Paul and Lizbeth’s daughter.” She nudged the smaller woman. “She was the only person under 20 at Dad’s funeral. I felt sorry for the poor kid.”

“I was so uncomfortable,” Jamie remembered. “I had no idea why they brought me. And I didn’t find out until years later.” Her eyes met Lacie’s, as both understood what that meant.

“But you do know now?” Lacie asked, and Jamie nodded. “Why didn’t you contact me?”

Jamie shrugged. “I figured if you wanted to, you would contact me.”

“And I did. I came as soon as I found out. Which was about an hour ago.”

“My fault,” the short woman put in. “It didn’t occur to me that James didn’t get a chance to tell her about you.”

“Wait,” Jamie gaped at her.

She met Jamie’s gaze and removed her shades. “Hi, kiddo.”

“Aunt Val?!”

“I, um… go by Mary, now.”

The sound of gunfire erupted outside, along with the sound of souped up cars burning rubber down the street. Both blondes turned to the door. Lacie began to rise. “Oh, dear. If you’ll ex—”

Jamie released her slowdown, allowing herself to resume her native speed. She leaned back in her seat, taking a few moments as the world slowed to a stop to take everything in. Initiating and maintaining a “slowdown,” as she called it, was the only way she could interact with the world at a normal level. When her power kicked in at sixteen, she found everything had dropped to a standstill. By the time she got a handle on it and figured out how to slow herself down, only twenty minutes had past of normal time, but she had experienced over one hundred eleven days in that frame. She also found she kept perfect track of how time passed both at normal speed and at her own frame.

As far as she could tell from experimentation, she generated a field of accelerated time around herself, causing her to move thousands of times faster than the world around her. The field extends a couple inches away from her body allowing her clothes and the air in her immediate vicinity to be moved with the same resistance they would have in the normal time frame. As a result, she can walk at several times the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, or suffering from the effects of friction. But a baseball or other object thrown in the accelerated frame immediately falls to normal speed on leaving her field. She can strike someone in the accelerated frame and they would be affected as if being struck at normal speed. Although she could do it hundreds or thousands of times a second if she wished.

When Jamie revealed her powers to her parents, they told her of her true parentage, how her adopted mom’s brother James, whom she knew as “Uncle Jim,” was her birth father, and “Aunt Val,” known to the world as the superheroine Radiant, a friend of her parents who often doted on her, bringing her gifts and babysitting her a number of times during her pre-teen life, was actually her birth mother. When Val found she was pregnant, she believed she would not be able to give Jamie any kind of normal childhood, with how her duties as a superhero causing her to be called away for months at a time, not to mention how being the child of a world famous heroine would put a target on her head. Furthermore, James was terminally ill, and didn’t want another child to feel the loss of their father (he had a grown daughter from an earlier marriage). So James contacted his sister Lizbeth who along with her husband were his daughter’s godparents, and arranged for them to adopt her. Of course, by the time this had been revealed to her, James had passed away and Radiant had been missing for years, so their decision to give her to Paul and Lizbeth had been proven to be a good one. They had been loving and supportive, and Jamie still considered them to be her true parents.

Now, her long missing birth mother was here, and had brought Jamie’s half-sister with her, sitting across the table from her. She had so many questions!

‘But first…’ she peered out of the front windows. A sedan was approaching, gunmen firing out the windows at the police cars in pursuit. She grimaced, strode back behind the counter to retrieve her toolbox and moved with a purpose out the door.

After removing the car’s tires and disassembling their guns (helpfully placed in clear plastic bags and duct taped to the roof of the car), as well as borrowing the pursuing cops’ handcuffs and shackling the bad guys together in the car, she returned to the shop. As she passed in front of Lacie to stash the toolbox, and she noticed the tall woman’s eyes tracking her.

Wiping her hands with quicksoap and a washcloth, Jamie resumed her seat at the table. All the time she had been handling the bandits outside, a part of her was thinking about the woman before her, and she found herself getting more and more angry. Concentrating, she initiated a new slowdown, synchronizing her speed with the world at large.

“—cuse me,” Lacie continued, then blinked, as the trio heard the scraping noise of the now wheel-less car skidding to a stop. “Or, I could just let you handle it,” she smiled at Jamie.

Mary was amazed! “Holy--! She’s fast! I mean, even for us, fast,” she gasped at Lacie.

“Yeah,” Jamie replied, “I can leave, take care of business, and come back immediately.” She leaned forward slightly and fixed Mary with a glare. “Where the fuck have you been for the last thirty years?” She stood suddenly and stormed to the back of the shop.

Mary drew back at the sudden venom in Jamie’s tone. As the younger woman disappeared through the door behind the counter, she looked to Lacie. “What just happened?” she mouthed silently.

“In that fraction of a second she used her speed,” Lacie quietly informed her, “over half an hour passed for her. Which gave her the chance to get over the shock of seeing you alive and move on to anger.” As Mary started to rise, Lacie gently pressed her back in her seat. “Let me talk to her,” she murmured, and followed the barista.

Jamie sighed heavily, having just finished washing her hands again, and was staring into the middle of the three sinks. She ran the towel over her hands, trying to think of something, anything, that needed to be done. She needed the distraction. Badly. Anything was better than dealing with what was waiting for her outside right now.

“Jamie? Can we talk?”

The young barista stiffened slightly. The voice wasn’t the one she’d expected. Sighing, she nodded, not turning around to face her. Not yet. It was still too soon… and her feelings were still too raw to deal with what she was feeling. “One problem with being a speedster on a slow day: I’m caught up with everything, so I don’t have anything to attack while I work through my feelings.”

Lacie nodded idly, glancing around. “I bet most coffee shops don’t look this organized, even just before opening for the day. It’s funny… as a customer, you just never really think about what’s happening behind the scenes, what goes into creating that delicious cup of steamy hot goodness.” She nodded appreciatively. “Looks like a lot of work.”

“Not really,” Jamie replied softly. “Well, yeah, it IS a lot of work… but once you get used to it, it gets way easier.” She sighed heavily. “Customer’s aren’t really allowed back here, you know.”

Lacie nodded again. “I know. But I thought you might make an exception… for family?” When the girl didn’t respond, she let out a deep sigh of her own. “Okay, Jamie. Can you use your power right now? Speed up, or slow down the world, or… whatever you do? I think you and I need to clear the air a bit, just the two of us.”

“And you can keep up?”Jamie asked, turning to her. Lacie nodded. “How? Who are you?”

“I’m Omega Girl,” she replied with a slight smile.

“Really? You’re Omega Girl.” Lacie nodded. “Omega Girl is my sister.” She seemed to chew on that for a moment. Then she shrugged, “Okay. Fine.” She once again released her slowdown. “There. Now… What did you want to talk about?”

Lacie grimaced, her body moving slowly, like moving through molasses for several seconds before evening out, becoming more fluid. “Sorry… took me… a minute… to catch up with you,” she said, her body shimmering slightly. “Not really used to this… it’s more my friend Parker’s thing. But I can keep up with him when I push it.” She chuckled ruefully. “Anyway, Jamie. I just wanted to say… I know how you feel.”

“You… know how I feel?!?” she snapped, hands on her wide but shapely hips. “How the HELL can you know how I feel?! Growing up, I lived in what I THOUGHT was a normal, happy family, a little strange, but normal. Then, when I turn sixteen, I suddenly learn that everything I was raised to believe was a lie--- that Mom and Dad weren’t my parents… that ‘Uncle’ Jim was really my father. And ‘Auntie Val’ was my mother! And that she abandoned me, gave me up, shoved me off to someone else to raise,” she growled, her anger rising all the while, “only stopping by now and again to VISIT me… as if showing up once or twice a year with a stupid little GIFT made up for all the time she WASN’T there!” She sighed, hanging her head. “And then… out of nowhere she just… vanished. Completely. No word or anything.” She brought her head up suddenly, meeting Lacie’s gaze. “But wait! There’s more! Then I get these powers, and the one person who could provide some insight into what the FUCK is going on has been gone FOR YEARS.”

Lacie nodded with sympathy. “Yeah… and then, out of nowhere, she shows up one day out of the blue, with your long lost half-sister in tow, and says, ‘Surprise! I’m back! Wanna catch up?’” Lacie shook her head ruefully. “Believe me, I completely sympathize with you. And I can understand you being angry with her. Hell, I was furious with her for months when she disappeared that way.” She sighed. “But… there’s more to the story than you know. Val… Mary, she didn’t disappear on us that way out of choice. She was a very active and prominent heroine, Radiant… and she had enemies. One of them managed to capture her… and he did,” she paused, grimacing. “Well, let’s just say he messed her up really badly. Basically unmade her, and turned her into someone else completely. Mary Makepeace isn’t just a psuedonym, or a fake identity--- its who she IS now, thanks to him.”

Jamie blinked, taking that all in. “She was… someone tortured her, and took away her identity?” she asked, frowning. Lacie nodded.

“Yeah. And it’s taken her a long time to rebuild herself, to get back what she’d lost. Even now, with her memories more or less back, she still doesn’t think of herself as ‘Val’ anymore. She IS Mary. And… that’s part of the reason why she stayed away,” she murmured, glancing down at her feet. “It took me the longest time to come to terms with that part… to understand. I accepted that she left. I accepted the reason why. It was something out of her control. But her staying away afterward? THAT is what hurt me the most… what took me forever to come to terms with.”

“Hmph. You’re a better woman than me, then,” the full figured barista muttered. “All these years… no card, no text, no phone call… nothing! Even if some bad guy scooped out her brain and turned her into someone else, if she got back her damned memories afterward, she should have FUCKING contacted us!” She turned around then, and Lacie winced inside at the sight of her tears. “And… and… for that matter, where the hell were YOU all these years, Big Sis?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you approach me at the funeral all those years ago? Or any time after that? You’re Omega Girl, right? You can fly and zoom and zip all over the world… but you couldn’t dive a few hours out of your way to visit your little sister?”

“Hey! I didn’t know about you, okay?” Lacie snapped, loosing her own temper slightly. “I said it earlier--- I learned about you just an hour ago. And as soon as I did, I had Mary bring me here!”

“You see! Her fault, again!” Jamie growled. “Because of her and her damned secrecy! If you had known, you probably would have found out when I got my powers, and I could have gotten SOME guidance.

“And of course, I barely knew Uncle Jim. Yeah, Val brought him to visit once or twice, but the only thing I really remember about him was putting a flower on his casket. I mean, Lizbeth and Paul are great parents, and they’ll always be Mom and Dad to me, but when I found out about--,” her voice caught, and tears were falling unchecked now, “thinking Jim and Val just passed me off to someone else because I wasn’t worth the effort…”

At which point Lacie snatched her up into a massive hug. “No, No, baby, no… that’s not it at all,” she told her gently. “Like I said, it took me a long time to understand, And even longer to forgive them… Val and my Dad. They thought keeping it a secret would be best for us… not having to deal with the pain of losing them. They made a mistake. But it wasn’t because they didn’t love us or care for us. It was just the opposite.” She gave her younger sister a sad smile. “My… I mean, our, Dad? He was sick. Very sick. Radiation poisoning. He knew he was dying… and when he found out Val was pregnant, they talked, and decided you deserved a stable family, a mother and father that weren’t liable to pass away and leave you when you were growing up.”

Lacie closed her eyes, pushing down the old pain she felt welling up. She understood Jamie’s pain all too well. It was the same feeling she sometimes still wrestled with to this day. She had always had something of a complex… what Eva had diagnosed as abandonment issues. Her birth mother had disappeared when she was six, shortly after the accident that gave her her powers. Val had appeared and become a mentor as well as a mother figure… only to again disappear and abandon her. All the while, growing up, with her father sick, there was always that fear, that certainly that he could die at any time and leave her as well. And when he had finally died from the criminal assault, she’d been devastated.

Opening her eyes, she continued. “I’m pretty sure the idea was to tell me when the time was right… to let me know I wasn’t alone in the world. That we weren’t alone.” She sighed. “But, well, Fate threw a monkey wrench into their plans. Val got abducted and brainwashed, and wasn’t around to tell us the truth. And later on, when she had returned… so much time had passed and she was ashamed of not being there when we needed her… she thought it better to stay away instead of coming back and bringing chaos back into our lives.” She gave her another sad smile and kissed her cheek. “I’m not saying you have to forgive her, Jamie. She messed up. And she hurt you. Hurt US. But she tried her best. She did everything she did with the best of intentions. But most of all, she loves you. So please, maybe cut her some slack? For me, Sis?”

***

Mary was still seated at the table. She was now sure Jamie hated her. Not that she could blame her. As Aunt Val, as Radiant, even as Mary, she hadn’t been there for her daughter. All she could do was bury her face in her hands and weep. She had no sooner started to sob when she felt a ripple of superspeed movement next to her. She raised her head to see Lacie and Jamie standing above her.

“So,” Jamie began, “Lacie filled me in on why you stayed away.” She took the seat beside her. “I’m not saying I agree with your reasoning, but I understand why you did what you did. I guess what I’m saying is I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. And, you did bring my sister to me, so that earns you some points.”

“Thank you,” Mary replied, then turned as if to reach for Jamie, but hesitated. The younger woman pulled her into a hug. She returned the embrace, her tears now of joy and relief rather than despair.

Presently, their reunion was interrupted by the bell above the door announcing customers. The trio glanced over as another trio entered, a man and two women.

“Duty calls,” Jamie whispered to Mary before releasing her and rising.

***

Later, after the evening shift came to take over, the trio adjourned to the apartment above the shop, where Jamie lived.

“So, Lacie filled me in on the whole brainwashing thing, but she didn’t tell me what you’re doing now. Where does Mary Makepeace spend her days?”

“Oh, I work up in the HeroGuild base,” Mary replied.

Jamie blinked. “Oh? Doing what?” she asked carefully, as if afraid to hear the answer.

“I’m the Support Staff Supervisor, and I manage the day-to-day support operations of the base.” When Jamie started laughing, Mary tilted her head to the side. “What?”

“Nothing, I--” she started laughing harder. As the other two looked on confused, Jamie blushed. “Sorry, sorry,” as she managed to get her giggles under control. “I just heard some rumors about HeroGuild.”

“What kind of rumors?” Mary asked.

Jamie blushed even harder. “That, um--” she laughed again. “That they, uh, that they keep some bimbo up there in a maid outfit who’s job is the service the supers. You know… sexually.”

Now Mary was blushing.

Lacie asked, “Where did you hear this from?”

Jamie shrugged. “Everybody knows about the HeroGuild Superslut. It’s part of our local superteam lore.” She leaned in to Mary. “Is it true?” The two older women glanced at one another, and it felt to Jamie like they were deciding what they should tell her. The idea that they were, that Mary was, still keeping secrets just pissed Jamie off.

‘Well, I can fix that,’ she mused. One of the things Jamie learned about the temporal field that surrounded her body was that, if she drew close to another person, the field could partially accelerate their mind. The subject could hear, or at least perceive, the things Jamie told them. But the part of the consciousness that processed right and wrong or any kind of value the statement might have was not sped up, allowing Jamie’s comments or suggestions to bypass it completely.

She considered using that effect on Mary, and found she was okay with it. But she knew that both Radiant and Omega Girl could speed up sufficiently to counteract it. She had seen Lacie tracking her when she came back from dealing with the car chase outside the shop. But she also remembered, during her hyperfast conversation with Lacie, when she released her slowdown she had to wait nearly a minute of subjective time for the older woman to speed up adequately. So she just had to make sure she was not in their eye-line when using her speed. And she saw a perfect opportunity to make that happen.

“Hey!” she barked, causing the pair to immediately refocus on her. She then pointed between them at a shelf on the far wall. “See that JV Cheerleading trophy?” As two turned to face away from her, she released her slowdown. She took position right behind Mary’s ear and stated, “When the trophy is invoked, you have no secrets from me, and you cannot lie to me.” For good measure, she repeated the process with Lacie, resumed her position, and started a new slowdown. “You do NOT lie before the JV Cheerleading trophy.” She watched the two turn back to her with what can only be described as stunned awe. She knew the suggestion would fade within a couple hours, but that was all she needed. “Agreed?”

“Yes,” Mary replied as Lacie said, “Of course.”

Jamie grinned. “Now, tell me everything about the HeroGuild Superslut.”

“I guess I’m the HeroGuild Superslut,” Mary replied, “although I’ve never heard that, that title before today.”

“So that line about running the support staff was just BS?”

“No, that’s true. But in my capacity as support, I took it upon myself to provide sexual relief to the supers of the Guild.”

“But, why?” Jamie asked. “That’s not exactly part of the standard duties of support staff.”

Mary shrugged. “It’s how Master made me.”

“Mary?” Lacie was brought up short.

“Master made Mary to keep his residence in order,” Mary continued. “Mary makes sure Master’s rooms are clean. Mary makes sure Master’s food is prepared. Mary makes sure all her holes are available for Master to fuck. And Mary definitely makes sure to assist Master in his endeavors, unlike that lying bitch Valorine who abandoned Master when she got superpowers that he thinks HE gave her.” That last was stated with rising anger.

“Wait,” Jamie protested, “I don’t understand. I thought your Valorine memories were restored.”

“They were,” Mary replied, anger evaporating in an instant, “I know where I really come from, now. I know he didn’t really give me my powers, just that they activated as a result of his experiment. But I’m still what Master made me: I keep the residence in order, and I’m available to the residence’s Masters should they wish to use me.

“I fulfilled my function. I maintained the residence. Then Master was gone, and I continued to do my job alone. I also took care of my body because I realized I was carrying Master’s child. Or rather, children. I carried on for months, awaiting Master’s return.

“Then, one day, the residence’s security was breached. Three supers broke in: BitTyrant, who discovered the trail of shell companies that led to property Master owned that possibly had a secret base, Structuresmith, whose powers allowed him to create and alter structures both above and below the ground, and Sigil Seraph, a young sorceress who came along to deal with any unexpected threats.

“At first, I hid from them, but Seraph’s magics found me. I tried to fight them, but as Mary I was not gifted with combat skills. I was still very strong, however, and Structuresmith was only able to stop me by trapping me from the neck down in a solid mass of stone, concrete and steel. I only stopped struggling when BitTyrant showed me video evidence of Master’s death. But without a Master, what was I? It was in that moment of uncertainty that Sigil Seraph used her magics to invade my mind and dig out the memories of Radiant.

“She was still hooked into my thoughts as the memories resurfaced and I recognized her. It was that identification which triggered a memory. A memory of a teen pregnancy in the early 1950s in which I was forced to give up my daughter for adoption. A memory that, after I got my powers, I used my Light to violate the sealed adoption records and find her. A memory that that child had grown up to be a hero in her own right. A memory that Sigil Seraph, in fact, was that child.”

“Wait, wait,” Jamie didn’t think her mind could be blown any further, “So, Sigil Seraph is your daughter, too?!” She glanced at Lacie. “Did you know about this?” Lacie shook her head as Mary continued.

“So, my first thought was to find James, but Bit’s research showed he was gone. I thought of you,” she looked at Jamie, “I knew you had a family who loved you, but I could only think about how you weren’t mine. About how Julia wasn’t mine.”

“Julia?” Jamie asked.

“Seraph.”

“Ah.”

“And here I had what turned out to be twin babies on the way, and I knew I would lose them if I became Radiant again. So I made the decision to stay Mary. My mother’s maiden name was Makepeace, so I took that as my surname.”

Jamie sat back and considered what Mary said. She had wanted to just get the juicy details about a HeroGuild rumor, but wound up getting the older heroine’s reasoning behind staying hidden.

“The search for you had been going on for close to a year,” Lacie stated. “I know there was a reward for finding you. Structuresmith and BitTyrant aren’t heroes so much as powered talent for hire. How did you convince them to keep your secret?”

“I used the Radiant Light,” Mary replied. “For the first ten years after my rescue, any heroes or staff brought in had to be adjusted so they wouldn’t recognize me as Radiant. After that, the HeroGuild as an organization had become more about protecting Auburnville than about finding Radiant.”

“So you moved from the your Master’s, I assume Doctor Cyber’s, residence to the Guild base?” Jamie inquired.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“The HeroGuild base was converted from a hideout used by Cyber,” Lacie supplied.

Mary nodded. “I had Structuresmith expand the base above the residence so it would remain intact, and BitTyrant expand and improve the network and security systems. And I made it worth their while. I had some money stashed in off-shore accounts, and Master had a whole bunch more, that I could access. They made about five times the reward offered. The rest I used to set up the endowment that pays the HeroGuild salaries. Staff and supers.”

Jamie quirked a smile. “HeroGuild members are on a salary?”

“Well, not everybody gets to be a billionaire, right Lacie?”

Jamie blinked. “Wait. What?” To Lacie: “You’re rich?”

Lacie nodded. “My husband is Eugene Frasier.” She was somewhat surprised she would just volunteer that information, but it seemed justified in her head since she had to be completely open and honest when the trophy was out. It had not yet occurred to her to wonder why a junior varsity cheerleading trophy would evoke such a response.

“The tech mogul? Cool.” Then Jamie shook her head. “Let’s table that for a moment.” She didn’t want to intrude on her half-sister’s life, not really. Her mother, on the other hand… “So, you’ve been there all this time? Cooking and cleaning and… servicing the heroes?”

“The guild hired a cooking staff, since I couldn’t do everything and hide the fact I had powers. Cleaning, however, I got very adept at doing at superspeed. When nobody was in a room that needed going over, I slip in and out without people seeing.”

“But there are security cameras all over the place,” Lacie put in. “How’d you evade them?”

“When BitTyrant set up the security system, he set up a ‘Mary Mode,’ which hides me from the system. So I can move about the base with impunity. Especially since the ventilation ducts are all 3 feet wide, so there’s plenty of room for me to fly through them in complete silence.”

“Is there any of Cyber’s old hideout left?”

Mary nodded. “The residence and labs are still intact, although the entrance I have kept concealed. Oh, and the vault.”

“The vault?” Jamie asked. “What’s that hold?”

“I don’t know. It was the one part of the residence I was never to enter or even mention. He said it contained things not meant for this world, so to treat it as if it didn’t exist.”

“Who else knows about this vault?” Lacie inquired.

“Just me and Doctor Cyber,” Mary replied. “I never mentioned it to my rescuers, or anybody ever, until this moment.”

“Never?”

Mary gestured at the trophy. “At the moment, NOT mentioning it is out of the question.”

Jamie watched as it occurred Mary and Lacie that something wasn’t right. Nodding, she rose and placed the trophy in a drawer, hiding it from view. She turned to watch the realization dawn on the other women’s faces.

“What the--?” Mary blinked.

“How…?” Lacie asked.

Jamie looked contrite, but a little smug. “Sorry. The thought that you were still keeping secrets made me act a bit impulsively and I used a trick that let’s me give you an instruction so fast it does an end run around your mind’s judgment center and you just accept it as fact. It doesn’t last long, but it works better than truth serum.”

Instead of looking upset, Mary seemed rather proud. “That… is impressive.”

***

Hours passed, and the trio filled each other in on the details of their lives. Mary shared stories of the HeroGuild and funny anecdotes about certain members. Jamie related how she started and built up her cafe, including plan to expand and possibly open a second location. Lacie filled them in on the details of her life in River City, including Eugene, Katie, Jimmy and Eva. She also revealed to Jamie her role as the goddess Verdandi and the Great Weave.

Jamie, on seeing the manifestation of Lacie’s goddess form, seemed to be unimpressed. “Anything else?”

Mary gave her a shocked glare. “‘Anything else?’ This isn’t enough for you?”

Jamie chuckled. “Well, she’s friggin’ Omega Girl! Then she says, ‘Oh, I’m also a goddess.’ I’m sorry, but that feels more like a lateral career move, if not a demotion.” She winked at her sister.

After the laughter died down, Lacie, back in her civilian attire, announced, “Guys, this has been wonderful. Jamie, I am so happy I got to meet you.”

“Me, too, Sis,” she replied.

“-- But I have to get back to River City,” Lacie continued.

“A hero’s work is never done,” Mary observed, then added, “well, absent an underground base to hide in for a couple decades.”

Lacie studied Mary for a long moment. “...Come with me.”

Mary blinked. “What?”

“Come with me,” she repeated. “I want to show you my life. Besides, when was the last time Mary Makepeace took a time off from her HeroGuild duties?”

“Technically, never,” Mary answered, then started. “Holy shit! I’ve got thirty years of vacation time accrued!”

“See?” Lacie asked. “No reason not to take some now.” She glanced at Jamie. “You, too. I want my new family to meet the rest of my family.”

“What, now?”

“Right now,” Lacie grinned.

“I-- I can’t. I don’t want to just abandon the shop without warning. But,” she held up a hand to forestall the pout her big sister was apparently about to unleash, “I will be able to come in the next few days. I promise.”

***

A couple weeks later…

Radiant rocketed upward, her body a streak of gold against the thinning atmosphere. Below her, the world shrank, clouds curling over continents like soft blankets covering a restless sleeper. Her lungs burned—not from effort, but from frustration and confusion. How had everything spiraled so far out of control? And how could she fix it when the enemy was invisible, insidious, hiding in the devices clutched so eagerly in every hand?

She pushed harder, the roar of wind around her vanishing as she pierced the exosphere and entered the silence of space. No friction, no gravity—just her and the stars. Freedom, for a moment. But the weight she carried was internal, heavier than anything she could lift with her hands. I was only asleep. How could they let this happen while I was gone?

Thirty years stolen from her.

Her thoughts churned, memories coming in jagged flashes—the last thing she remembered before stasis was Doctor Cyber's gloating face, his cold, maniacal laugh as the light from the weapon he held filled her vision. And then nothing.

When she had finally awoken, it had been like surfacing from a long, dark dream. She had bolted upright in the unfamiliar room, gasping for air, only to find herself surrounded by people—heroes, doctors, and medical staff. Their faces were kind, but their eyes were glued to strange devices glowing in their palms.

She had demanded answers—Where is Cyber?—but the only response had been murmurs and sidelong glances, as if she were a relic of the past, a legend from another era. That was when the truth hit her: no one even knew they were prisoners. That’s how deep Cyber’s grip goes.

That was when she knew she needed more than her strength. Punching through walls wouldn't free these people. They didn’t even know they were captives. She needed something that could cut away the lies, a tool sharp enough to sever the illusions wrapped around every mind on Earth. Her Guardian Gear, that she so often depended on in times like these, was nowhere to be found.

And that’s why she was here—hurtling toward the Moon, toward a weapon she had left behind decades ago.

The lunar sphere loomed larger in her vision. She narrowed her gaze and adjusted her trajectory, angling toward the far side, hidden forever from Earth's gaze. In this place lay the remnants of an ancient battlefield.

Radiant slowed her approach, the vast plain of smooth lunar regolith stretching out beneath her. She scanned the horizon, her sharp eyes searching for the weapon she had hidden so long ago. There—just as she had left it—floated the Bardiche, a sliver of blue-white light hovering a foot above the dust.

It gleamed like a forgotten shard of moonlight, its blade smooth and featureless, more like an oversized knife than a traditional axe. The weapon seemed weightless, untethered by gravity or time, anchored in place and waiting patiently for its rightful wielder.

Radiant landed softly, her boots stirring small clouds of dust in the moon’s low gravity. She approached the Bardiche slowly, her heart thrumming with anticipation. When her fingers brushed the hilt, a surge of energy shot through her—a familiar, electric connection that resonated deep within her core.

It was like reuniting with a long-lost part of herself.

The weapon responded instantly, its glow intensifying as it bonded with her energy. The DarVek had crafted it well—just like her Guardian Gear, the Bardiche was attuned to her essence, amplifying her abilities and feeding off her power. She gripped it firmly, feeling the hum of latent energy thrumming beneath the smooth surface. It was more than a weapon; it was a promise.

She flexed her fingers around the hilt, testing the weight, though the weapon seemed to move as if it were an extension of her body. The Bardiche was ready. So was she.

Radiant leapt into the sky, her golden aura flaring as she left the moon’s surface behind. The cold vacuum of space wrapped around her, but the fire inside her burned hotter than ever. She had been away too long—long enough for the world to change in ways she hadn’t imagined. But she was back now, and she would set things right.

The Earth rose before her, a fragile marble suspended in the infinite black. She could see it clearly now—the cities aglow with artificial lights, the oceans shimmering under the sun’s touch. It was beautiful, but beneath that beauty lurked a sickness.

Doctor Cyber, she thought bitterly. I know you’re still out there, somewhere. But you won’t hide from me for long.

With the Bardiche in hand, Radiant felt more than ready for the battle ahead. She would cut through the illusions and lies, sever the strings binding minds in unseen chains, and free the people from Cyber’s influence—whether they realized they needed saving or not.

Her grip tightened on the weapon as she plunged back toward the Earth, her golden aura streaking across the sky like a falling star. This time, she wouldn’t hesitate. She had the tools she needed, and nothing would stop her.

The world might have changed while she was gone, but Radiant hadn't.

And she was coming home.

End Part One