Super Jaded 2 - Chapter 7: Escape

(Sorry for the delay! Super Jaded 2 is back!

Fern couldn’t believe it—what these mortals had the gall to do behind her back. She thought leaving for Mars temporarily to make the world less billionaire-y was going to be a quick and easy trip. Nina would’ve been waiting in their hideout for her like a maiden of old odysseys and maybe she would have even rewarded her hard working girlfriend with a nice fuck afterwards when Fern returned. But life wasn’t always rewarding. 

Now that Fern had a clear view of both Iris and Anya’s faces, it looked as if something else was nagging at her. In an instant, it clicked. “Wait a minute… I recognize you assholes. You’re from the diner two days ago!”

The two newly-christened supergirls didn’t reciprocate the claim as they were busy being choked to death, but Fern’s razor-sharp memory wouldn’t lie to her. If anything, it helped her piece together several context clues that even the most trained interrogators would have missed.

She loosened her grip on both women, but ensured they would be thoroughly unable to escape. “Looks like the secret’s out, then. There’s someone out there who knows how to make more super serum that actually works. It was that third person you were talking with, wasn’t it? But there’s still something that doesn’t make sense to me…” Fern pondered, acting all cordial just to spite the two women who were fearing for their lives in her grasp. “Why just two? And why just two who are stronger than Nina, but weaker than me? It doesn’t make sense. Sure, the ingredients are hard to find… but not impossible. We’ve stopped a few people who tried to make their own, or found the aftermath of the idiots who injected themselves with it. But what makes you two different?”

Fern peered into the minds of her adversaries, attempting to gleam some sort of insight from their current thoughts. Unfortunately, for the time being, sheer panic was the only thing on their minds.

“I’m going to die. She’s going to kill us. I’m going to die. Please let it be quick. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m sorry, mom. I’m going to die. Holy fuck I’m going to die.”

A slurry of thoughts from both women bombarded Fern’s mind, annoying her as she blinked twice to free herself of the onslaught. She didn’t need to know the details of their fear, she’d heard that enough for one lifetime over just the last year.

“Alright, it looks like I’ll just have to find out when you two aren’t so freaked out. Funny how you were both so full of confidence and anger just a few minutes ago. And now look at you, shaking when an actual god is present among you. Pathetic. One of you will slip up and recall what I need. That’s something I’m more than willing to wait for.”

“But…“ The green haired superwoman struggled.

Fern smirked, turning toward Iris. Already? Rookie move. She loosened her grip on her adversary a bit more. Oh well, at least I can get this over with quickly.

“But… What about… Nina?” Iris choked out from her swollen face and crushed windpipe. “If I…can barely hear… her heartbeat, I wonder… how well… you can?”

Fern’s smile vanished, quickly diverting all of her attention to honing her hearing. The prospect of losing the love of her life so suddenly had definitely shook her focus, sending her into a state of illogical panic as she scrambled to think about her next move. Iris and Anya weren’t all too coordinated, but they knew when to collectively capitalize on a distracted opponent.

Fern looked away, as if pointing her eyes in the direction of Nina’s heartbeat like a deer hearing a twig snap in the forest would give her an advantage. She then found her face smothered with a barrage of laser vision from two angles, not really injuring her beyond a minor burn, but throwing her off enough for the two lesser supergirls to wriggle their ways from her grasp.

Both wasted no time flying off in two different directions, forcing Fern to split her attention between her opponents. Sure, she could definitely catch and kill one, but if even one of them was left alive after this, Nina was at risk. Her love came first and once she was fully healed, there was nothing to stop them from personally hunting down those two girls again. 

~

Knowing she was likely first, Anya hid within a dense population center. She landed on a random sidewalk, more roughly than she would’ve liked, as her bare feet created two prints like she just landed on fresh sand. The Latina noticed everyone in her immediate vicinity turn around and stare at the towering form that landed in front of them. Anya couldn’t help but pause for a millisecond to take in the new situation she was in. All her life, she had been shorter than average and always had to look up at people. This time it was the exact opposite. She was even taller than most of the men! Anya snapped out of it, if she drew too much attention to herself, Fern would find her even easier. 

The hustle and bustle of the street would hopefully distract from her panicked mind as she hid in an alleyway. She knew Fern could read her mind, and could possibly use that endless inner monologue her brain was always generating to track her down. If what Loken said was true, O’Hare’s thoughts were heard from an entire state over, and Fern detected him the second she recognized his voice.

Was there some way for Anya’s inner voice to become unrecognizable?

I don’t know, is there a way? Spoke the ominous voice of Fern from within Anya’s mind. Would you care to share your theories with me, Anya Torres? 

The blonde froze, her eyes darting every which way just to catch a glimpse of where Fern’s imposing form could be hiding amongst the crowds. She eventually gave up and took to the skies in such a hurry it caused multiple windows of buildings to crack, with those closer to her radius of takeoff completely shattering. 

Her flight path was intercepted by a devastating lariat from Fern, disrupting the time her healing factor had to recoup her losses. Anya screamed in anger and fear as she attempted to bob and weave away from Fern, only for the impossibly powerful and beautiful activist-turned-archist to read her every movement like a biography.

The civilians on the ground level fled in terror as a fireworks show of a struggle occurred in the sky above them. Anya tried her hardest to stand her ground, but between her inexperience, her lack of a third serum, and her existing injuries, she found herself in one hell of a headlock, Fern’s massive bosom pressing against her spine and putting extra pressure on her neck as it bent at an awkward angle. If Fern wanted to, just one squeeze would crush Anya’s skull like an apple in a hydraulic press.

Still, Fern couldn’t help herself. She had to monologue further.

“That’s some cheap trick you two pulled back there. Making me think Nina Etana of all people was in mortal danger. For someone with just one serum, she’s got one hell of a healing factor.”

Now Fern was left with a decision. Would she rid the world of Anya once and for all? A furious debate raged in her head at the thought.

“Ngh… I can’t keep taking these half-measures! You’re too dangerous to be left alive!”

But before Fern could finish the job, a voice projected itself into her and Anya’s heads—that of Iris.

Fern! Let Anya go now, or lose the love of your life!

Even though that meant Iris was three states over, she was indeed within range to cause Nina some serious bodily harm. Fern switched her attention to the ‘channel’ of Nina’s heart rate, hearing it increasing rapidly. Whatever Iris was doing, it was putting stress on the original supergirl’s body to a deadly degree.

In an instant, Fern let go of Anya and dashed nearly two thousand miles in an instant. The resulting sonic boom uprooted entire trees in her warpath, but she slowed down to a stop as soon as Nina came into her vision. 

Iris had Nina in a particularly threatening headlock, much like Fern had to Anya. The original supergirl was still in a daze from when she had been brutalized by the newer supergirls on the block. Fern wasn’t in the mood to negotiate with hostages. She’d just had one hell of a day.

Using her enhanced superspeed, thanks to the three doses of serum coursing through her veins, Fern outmaneuvered Iris before the lesser super could commit to what she wanted, the green-tipped brunette finding her face struck with enough force to level a country. Thankfully, for someone of her caliber, she was only knocked free of her hold on Nina, however, Fern’s rash approach had not come without consequences. Her lover’s head was twisted and bent at an irregular angle. Iris had just inadvertently snapped Nina’s neck. 

Fern’s anger turned to fear as she fell to the ground with Nina, desperately putting her ear to Nina’s chest and frantically searching for a heartbeat. There was one present, but it wouldn’t last much longer in the state her girlfriend was in. She needed to get Nina to safety, realizing that retreating was the better option as long as there were two supers who could pose a threat to her one and only love. 

A haunting message slithered through Iris’ brain as she locked eyes with a furious Fern.

The next time I see you. I will not hesitate to kill you.

Iris felt her heart sink. But this was no time to be consumed by fear. She flew off to where Anya was last, noticing that the blonde was circling around a particular radius of land, as if surveying for something. Iris wanted to speak, only to be hushed by Anya, who gave only a minimal amount of attention to her fellow super before returning to her little side-quest.

Eventually, her advanced vision discovered what it was looking for, with Anya descending gently into a hole in the ground. It was a bunker, a soundproof one, no less. Once the door was sealed behind them, only then did Anya feel comfortable enough to communicate, and even then it was only through thought projection.

Loken mentioned that this bunker was soundproof until they opened it to save our asses back at the diner. That means this is the one place we know of where Fern can’t find us.

The two supergirls, understanding they were on limited time, didn’t even acknowledge the new power they had both just discovered. While they couldn’t read each other’s thoughts like Fern could, they were still able to send their thoughts into someone else’s head to converse. 

Okay, that should buy us some time. Smart thinking with the bunker, Anya.

Anya was not so optimistic. Her heart beat was going crazy from the encounter. She’d survived, for now.

Time to do what? Face it, Iris. We’re fucked. She knows our voices. She knows our names. She can track us down anywhere on the globe. She can even survive in space longer than we can. We don’t stand a chance against her. Even if we hunker down here where she can’t hear our thoughts, what’s stopping her from taking another 30 seconds out of her day to check here once she starts making the rounds for us again?

Yes. Well, that got me thinking, actually. She can pick our voices out from a crowd. But what if our voices weren’t our voices?

What the hell are you saying, girl?

Okay, well, this might sound like a crazy stretch… but you’re bilingual, right?

Yeah, duh. My parents live in Colombia. I’m an exchange student, remember? Or, well, I was… If there’s one thing I have to give Fern credit for, it was abolishing passports and—

Yes. Yes. Anyways, we gotta focus up.

Right, sorry. What were you saying about me speaking two languages?

It’s okay. I’m just thinking… If you were to speak your native language, would Fern be able to recognize it?

Well, what other choice do we have? If this doesn’t work… Well, we’re basically dead anyway.

Fair enough. I know my learning skills are like, on crack with my superpowered brain. I wonder how long it would take for me to learn Spanish?

Have you spoken it before?

Not a lick. I’m like, no bueno. 

Makes sense. You talk like a gringa. 

What’s that supposed to mean?

Nothing… nothing. Um, well, I could give you a rundown. It’s similar to English, but it also has some specific rules that can be a little hard to get accustomed to, but that’s mostly because English isn’t a great language to begin with. Tons of contradicting rules and such.

I think that might be the ticket. Imagine if we were both speaking Spanish around a population that predominantly spoke the same language. I think we might actually stand a chance to blend in. What do you think?

I think you are una perra loca, but I honestly can’t think of a better plan, so let’s try it. This might be a story we tell our great-grandkids if we somehow live to tell the tale.

Let’s start there. What does ‘una perra loca’ mean?

You don’t want to know. How about something simple, like ‘me llamo Iris, ¿Dónde está la biblioteca?’ That means—

I know what that means, Anya. I might be an American, but I’m not that stupid.

The two double-dosed supergirls fled the bunker and took the long way around the Earth to Colombia, Anya spending the time teaching Iris the fundamentals of her native language. To both of their surprises, Iris picked up quickly, comprehending the underlying roots of Spanish, including regional differences and even some slang so she wouldn’t sound so out of place. They kept looking around for Fern, but there was no indication of her physical presence, much less her mental one. It seemed the plan worked for now, they must’ve thrown Fern off of their scents.

[“So, when we get to Colombia, what’s the plan?”] Iris asked, speaking competent Spanish befitting of a student in their fourth year of the class. Whenever there was a word she wasn’t quite sure of, her powerful mind reasonably deduced what it could be based on connotations and connections with about a 95% success rate.

Anya chuckled at Iris’ mostly-competent lingo like one might to a cute little puppy stumbling around, but wasted no further time answering. [“Simple, we meet up with my family. I’m fairly certain they all still live in the same house. I… admittedly haven’t contacted them very much since I moved to the US.”]

[“What do you mean?”] Iris asked, grilling Anya a bit. [“I thought your family was like, super important to you? Didn’t you nearly kill Loken over them just telling you where your parents lived?”]

Anya looked a bit embarrassed. [“Well, yes, obviously I love my family. I’m just… y’know… I don’t ask a lot of questions. Between my mother, my grandmother, and my brother all being really loud and talkative, I’m kind of the quiet one in my family, all things considered.”]

[“Makes sense. I’m the quiet one in my family too.”] Iris confessed. [“I suppose you have to be some degree of anti-social to dedicate as much time as we did to Eternals’ Ending.”]

[“Yeah. God, I wonder how all those neckbearded losers would react to seeing the two most prominent members become the very supergirls they swore to oppose.”] Anya pondered, running a finger along her chiseled features.

[“They’d probably start lusting over us, unfortunately. Then again, that means they’d have to actually leave the house to see us, so out of sight, out of mind.”] Iris answered, prompting a chuckle from Anya.

[“I just hope we can figure out something while we lay low and recoup. Fern’s got to have some other sort of weakness we can exploit…”] Anya wondered, instantly changing the vibe of the conversation. For a moment there, the double-dosed supergirls were happy, their single-minded mission to kill Nina and Fern put on the backburner as the implications of their powerful bodies finally settled in.

The two supergirls allowed the melancholy to simmer as they approached Anya’s home country from the sky, preparing to plan for the next chapter of their lives. They were safe for now, but they’d need all of the time they could get if they wanted to prepare for what was next.