Super Jaded 2 - Chapter 8: Familia

[“Anya… are you sure that your family’s going to be cool with us looking like… this?”] Iris asked, gesturing at her supernaturally endowed body, not to mention the dirt and bruises peppered throughout their figures. They were rather distracted by their own magnificence to realize a majority of their injuries that would’ve taken weeks or even months to heal were already halfway in the recovery process.

[“Uh, yeah, totally… I think? I sure hope so. They were cool with me coming out as bisexual, I can’t think of any reason why this would be any worse.”] Anya smiled. 

[“I can actually think of fifteen different reasons why this would be worse,”] Iris deadpanned. [“But, you know your family better than I do so I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”]

[“Yeah, unless you’ve got some long lost family somewhere out there, this is our best bet to avoid being ambushed.”]

[“Also… even if I could, I wouldn’t want to see my father,”] Iris admitted, gritting her teeth as she did so. [“I don’t think he would be too psyched to see his daughter become the very creature that murdered his wife.”]

[“True… Anyways, we should probably get some new clothes on the way. I don’t exactly want to show up to my parent’s house stark naked with some gal I just met. They’d probably think we got impulsively married in Vegas or something.”]

Iris blushed as the hypothetical entered her mind. She did her best to quickly change the subject. [“You know, we criticized Nina for barely wearing clothes on that forum damn near every day but I can kinda see why she didn’t.”]

Anya shrugged. [“Yeah I guess it did feel nice to flex my new muscles at her…”]

There was a brief pause in the conversation as the air whistled by from their flight to Colombia. That gave Iris time to think, which also gave her time to fear.

[“You don’t think we’ll… become them, do you?”] Iris worried.

[“Whaaat? Of course not. I don’t trust Loken but I won’t lie, showing Nina and Fern that they aren’t gods and can actually bleed felt insanely satisfying, and I have no urge to suddenly oppress a bunch of normal people. Maybe this can be a good thing. A check to their power could open the doors to compromise and coexistence, just like you said.”] The Latina supe explained.

[“I hope you are right. And yeah…”] Iris gestured at her tall stature and broader form. [“It does feel nice. Not to mention, it’s pretty liberating. Wasn’t it supposed to be freezing today?”]

[“It was… but I feel like I can just regulate my body temperature. Or, at least, how I perceive my body temp. It’s quite the strange feeling, not quite cold-blooded, not quite warm-blooded, but some other third thing.”]

The two women descended into Colombia, quickly looting a closed thrift store for two full fits. Finding a moment to practice with their powers again, they used their eyes to melt the surrounding security cameras, rendering them useless before the grainy footage could even be blessed with their perfection. It was almost surreal how easy it was to commit crimes, with Anya comparing it to the sensation of being a protagonist in a video game, prompting an eyeroll from Iris. 

That being said, the green-tipped girl did take her time picking out a fit that suited her. Her new height was definitely something to get used to as she now had to slouch and bend over to pick out the right clothes from the inventory available. Thankfully, she didn’t need to worry about her once-troublesome scoliosis thanks to the serum perfecting her body… or at least she hoped. Iris still didn’t know the limits of the very serum coursing through her veins, and wasn’t really in a position to try them out. She had to admit, with a body that surpassed the Olympians of old without even trying, her eyes were drifting to nearby mirrors just to check herself out. 

The green tipped girl bit her lower lip, mentally undressing her own body as her gaze fell upon the hills and valleys of her limbs and torso. Her confidence suddenly skyrocketed, realizing that her usual diet of instant ramen and her exercise routine which was mostly limited to her fingers no longer impaired her. Iris felt like she could beat so many models in those competitions she never bothered to watch. A little twirl revealed just how much sexy, feminine muscle she had packed on to her ass, thighs and curves.

Anya meanwhile was flexing her right bicep at another mirror while rubbing her abs with her other hand like she was playing a guitar. A full six pack threatened to blossom into an eight pack on her stomach, a far cry from the muffin top that was once present. All that body fat she’d shed just went to her ass and breasts, as if the serum had somehow understood the true desires of a woman like her.

Both girls sighed as they perused the shoes and sandals section. There were many cute styles, but unfortunately their feet were just too big. They didn’t exactly make baggy shoes to wear. 

[“Wait I think I got it…”] Anya grunted, only for Iris to giggle from her big toe jutting out far past the edge of the small sandal. The footwear wasn’t long for this world soon after, snapping in two after Anya flexed her foot a teensy bit. 

[“Barefoot it is then!”] Iris shrugged. It wasn’t like the course ground could do much to their perfect skin anyways. And if it did, nothing was stopping them from flying. So fly they did, Iris closely following Anya until they finally descended upon a neighborhood that looked like it had seen better days.

Anya noticed Iris tense up a bit at the thought of meeting a new family from a foreign country, showing her a patient smile. [“They’ll love you. Don’t worry!”]

[“Mami!!!! Your daughter is hooooome!”] Anya screamed into the house from the yard in a way that implied this was how she usually announced her return. Unfortunately, Anya once again wasn’t aware of the impact in her improved, powerful voice, and therefore it caused several windows to crack. [“Shit…”] 

Both of the supergirls’ advanced hearing detected commotion from within the house before them. Anya tensed up, fearing what she knew was happening next. 

[“Is that Anya!?”]

[“Why the hell does it sound like she just shouted that through a stadium speaker!?”]

The door slammed open, with a stout, older woman stomping out from the darkness within, followed by a confused, taller, lankier guy in his mid twenties. While both went into this interaction with different emotions, as soon as their eyes caught a glimpse of Iris and Anya, both of their jaws dropped in disbelief, eyes wide like beached sea animals.

“Anya!?” They both said simultaneously.

[“Hey mom, hey bro. What’s… um, what’s up? Uh… this, is Iris, by the way.”] Anya said, doing her best to make casual conversation amongst the surreal situation, gesturing towards her friend.

Despite how tall and bulky both women were, Iris shared in the awkwardness, meekly waving towards. She could sense the immediate fear and worries Anya’s family held as they tilted their heads up to meet the superwomen’s eyes. Iris, being the stranger and the tallest of the four—towering over even Anya herself—tried to convey friendliness but even she couldn’t deny how intimidating her height made her seem by default.

[“Amor, what’s going on?”] 

Two more members of the family followed, an older man who was helping an even older woman make her way down the front steps before she wrestled her hand free from the man and hobbled over to see the newest wonders of the world all by herself. His face was confused, hers was awe-stricken, with the slightest hint of anger. Though perhaps it was also jealousy.

[“Oh shit, the whole gang’s here.”] Anya said, turning her head to Iris. [“Um, well, Iris! Meet… my family.”]

She extended a sinuous hand outwards, presenting an open palm to each of the members, one after the other.

[“The guy a little older than me with the goofy side fade cut is my brother, Diego.”]

[“Hey!”] He remarked, playfully annoyed. [“Well, hello to you too, sis!”]

[“The worried woman gripping her arm is my mother, Alicia. The man adjusting his spectacles in disbelief is my father, Miguel… and the older woman walking up to me with a sandal in her hand is my grandmother, Mimi.”]

Before Iris could offer her hellos, the two supergirls watched as Mimi rather pointlessly smacked Anya’s burly shoulder with her sandal long after she realized it's inevitable ineffectiveness. 

[“What. Did. I tell you. About using foul language, Anya!?”] she shouted. [“I don’t care if you show up here as the reincarnation of Christ himself, you’re on my premises! And there’s no swearing on my premises!”]

But the older woman couldn’t keep up her righteous anger for long, as tears began to form on the sides of her crow-footed cheeks. Her face slowly but surely distorted into a wobbly mess, and before anyone knew it, she was sobbing tears of joy into the same arm she just whipped.

[“Oh, but I could never stay mad at my little baby. She’s finally come home.”] the eldest lady whimpered before embracing her gigantic granddaughter, caught off guard by her steel-hard stomach.  

“Mija…” Alicia asked, fighting back tears better than her own mother could. Anya attempted to approach, pivoting forward, but she sensed her own mother slightly back away. She was afraid, frightened of own daughter. [“What happened to you? Why are you so… Why do you look like them?”]

She couldn’t even bear to say their names. This was not a city that could so easily forget what Nina had done to them.

[“I’ll explain everything inside, okay?”] Anya confessed, letting her own waterworks trickle down her cheeks. [“I just want to see the house again. It’s been far, far too long.”]

~

The reunited Torres family and Iris all sat around the dinner table, with Anya unconsciously sitting in the same spot she had all those years ago. The chairs that held the two supes creaked as a result of their new weight and Anya and Iris struggled with their legs and feet interacting with the legs of the table. No matter how similar the table felt, the youngest Torres sibling had changed. The table was raised ever-so-slightly, resting on both pairs of their hulking calves. Diego tried to play it cool and not say anything about the slight pressure his foot felt as a result of Iris’ accidentally placing her foot on top of his while she was adjusting herself. It seemed as if she didn’t notice his subtle squirms as he tried and failed to escape.

The humans listened intently as both supergirls took turns explaining the situation to the best of their abilities. Eternal’s Ending, Dr. Loken, the strange bunker, them getting two serums a piece, the fight that they ultimately lost against Nina and Fern, and their vow to speak nothing but Spanish to disguise their voices from Fern’s prying panopticons of eardrums.

Miguel shook his head once the recap was over. [“Alicia, I told you that student visa we gave Anya was a mistake. Look at what we put her through over there in the States.”]

[“Honey, that’s not…”] She then paused, shaking her head at her husband. [“Our little bird had to leave the nest eventually. I’m just happy she’s alive.”]

[“Mom, dad, I’m better than alive, really!”] Anya remarked. [“With a body like this, I can finally stop the terror that Nina and Fern are bringing upon this world!”]

[“No kidding! I mean, wow. Look at you, little sis!”] Diego remarked, endearingly slapping Anya’s bicep twice, only for his face to shrivel subtly as he fought off the resulting sting from doing so. [“Crazy how you spent all that time on the computer and now you’ve got more muscle than even I do!”]

“Diego!” Anya whisper-shouted, growing flustered at the comment. [“N-not in front of Iris…”]

[“Oops, my bad. Hehe, is she your girlfriend, or something?”] He asked out of genuine curiosity.

That brought a prominent blush to both of the supergirls’ faces. Anya, however, converted that blush to steam from her nose as she stood up tall, casting a shadow over Diego which completely consumed him. Diego nervously raised his fist. [“I-I mean, hell yeah! You go sis! Although—”]

[“And do you have a plan for that?”] Mimi interjected, always the skeptical one. [“Because the way I see it, this Dr. Loco set you two up for failure! You two only got two serums a piece while Fern had three!”]

[“Damn Abuela beat me to it. She paying attention!”] Diego chuckled, ever the hype man.

[“Well, Loken said it would be dangerous for us to have three…”] Iris said, stroking her chin. It seemed as though even she didn’t buy her own explanation of the transpired events. [“I guess we just felt lucky to be receiving more than one at the time and didn’t question it.”]

Mimi’s eyes narrowed at Iris. [“Typical American, settling for less just because it seems like a good deal.”]

Miguel and Alicia sat back quietly, exchanging glances. Meanwhile Anya and Diego both frowned at her response. “Abuela!”

Mimi just shrugged, refusing to back down. [“If I knew how to make that serum, I’d pump myself so full with that cocktail you all would yearn for the memories of the sandal.”]

Iris out of instinct slouched in her chair and tried to hide herself from embarrassment.

[“Or… Here’s a thought, we could just not create more world ending abominations!”] Alicia exclaimed before instantly regretting it upon seeing her daughter’s saddened look. [“I'm sorry, my love. I didn’t mean that. It’s just so scary to be living under these… Are they even human anymore? They say they aren’t our overlords, yet they behave like we are nothing to them. They took out world leaders. They are Gods now, and as insane as they may be, what better word even describes them?”]

[“That’s why we’re here, mom,”] Anya attempted to explain, but Iris butted in.

[“We’re different! We’re not like them, we haven’t had a government breathing down our necks like Nina had, making her do things she hated until she snapped. We didn’t have an angry mob break down the door and nearly beat us to death for being the girlfriend of the only superhero in the world. It’s easy for humans to fall into bad habits, but that’s not what humans are inherently! We want to do what’s right for other people! We want to help others just for the sake of it.”]

Iris felt great after her impassioned speech, not only for the message she was trying to send but by how exhilarating it felt to have said it in Spanish. It now came naturally to her. Granted, she could still use a bit more practice until she fully mastered it but she could see the family was slightly impressed, at least Diego was. However, Anya's family wasn’t particularly convinced when it came to the message itself. Mimi, Alicia and Miguel exchanged unsure glances between one another, and while Diego had a smile plastered over his face, he seemed to be so spellbound by Iris that most of her words went in one ear and out the other. After Anya admitted that she and Iris weren’t dating, perhaps he thought that meant he had a chance. Anya wanted to kick her brother’s leg under the table to knock it off but immediately thought of the destruction she could cause doing things she had done without issue in the past. The cracked windows all around her were more than enough evidence for that. Now was not the time to continue their sibling shenanigans. 

[“I’ll believe it when I see it,”] Mimi said, shaking her head. [“You may be able to lift this house, but I’ve been alive a lot longer than you have, and I haven’t exactly seen anything get better because of technology like this.”]

Iris’ face fell. Her mind hadn’t exactly been changed, but she was upset that she couldn’t convince others to see the world as she did. Was this how Nina and Fern felt? It made her shudder to even consider the possibility.

[“Your grandmother is right, Anya,”]Miguel said, regret in his tone as he shook his head. [“The world’s just fallen into more and more chaos ever since Nina Eternal got that serum.”]

However, to her entire family’s surprise—including Iris—Anya sided with the other supergirl. [“No. I-I think Iris has a point. We know the trick to make sure anyone can successfully get the serum, Loken told us, then showed us. It’s a trick that I don’t think even Nina and Fern know about.”]

[“What’s your point?”] Mimi asked impatiently.

[“My point is, if enough good, selfless people can get their hands on the serum, we could make the world a better place. And I… think it could happen one day.”]

[“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”] Mimi replied matter-of-factly with a shake of her head. [“If God wanted us to have these powers, he would have given them to us himself.”]

[“Once again, your grandmother has a point.”] Alicia spoke, shaking her head in a similar fashion to her husband. [“People throughout history have never handled power responsibly. I daresay even you two won’t be immune to its call.”]

[“Welllllllll…”] Diego remarked, trying to help as best he could. He smoothly slid over to be closer to Iris, smiling like a loser now that he knew she was single. [“We’ll have plenty of time to test that theory over the next few weeks, I’m sure. After all, you two need a place to stay, right?”] He pointed at his sister and newfound crush, before turning his attention back to the elders in the room. [“And mom, dad, grandma—you’ve all known Anya her entire life. Wouldn’t it be worth keeping her around to see if she’s still that same lovable geek we knew before she left for America.”]

[“Oh, I’ll make sure you have plenty of chores to do, young lady!”] Mimi clarified with a cutthroat stare.

[“And Iris, she can totally stay as well. I’d say the more superpowered people we have protecting our house, the better!”]

[“Diego, I know you aren’t out here offering up our home as if you pay rent!”] Alicia lamented, prompting a guilty smile from her son.

[“Now, honey, I think the boy’s right. While I also find myself… Overwhelmed at what has happened to our daughter. She’s still our daughter.”] Miguel argued. [“And she’s welcome in the Torres household whenever she’d like to be, as is her new friend.”]

Iris wasn’t sure if that was the best takeaway, but Anya and Diego both knew the language of compromise from their parents was an unusual one, satisfied with their work. Of course, Alicia, Miguel and especially Mimi would never admit the possibility of being wrong in their wisdom, but family was everything, and that was enough to sway them to a satisfying resolution.

The two supergirls turned in for the night, holing up in Anya’s old room. It was just as the brunette had remembered, much to the joy of Iris who found herself giggling at each nook and cranny that was filled with nerdy memorabilia of TV shows and video games that composed several of Anya’s hyperfixations.

[“Oh yeah, I bet your room is just the most normal, boring one ever,”] Anya said with an eyeroll. [“Now hurry up and come to bed, mom doesn’t like it when we stomp around past ten.”]

Iris smiled and casually floated a few inches off of the ground, but knocked it off when Anya was only mildly amused by the loophole. She floated over further until she was in bed with Anya, taking up the rest of the too-small bed that was once a king sized.

[“Thanks for having my back over there.”] Iris said, reflecting on the day as Anya turned off the light with a concentrated exhale of air which flipped the wall switch on the other side of the room. [“I didn’t know you changed your mind since we last had a conversation about our values.”]

Anya sighed. [“I didn’t really change my mind about what I think, Iris… but I think I want to be wrong. After everything we’ve been through today, seeing you remain so optimistic despite everything feels nice.”]

Iris smiled. [“We’ve bought ourselves some time. I’m sure we’ll think of a plan to finally stop those bastards. It shouldn’t be too hard to find some more of that serum, right?”]

With that, the two girls drifted off to sleep, ready for another day of Colombian life in the morning.