Ms. Shock/They Don't Make Them Like They Used To
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
The Warriors were supposed to be one of the more dangerous super-powered threats in Paragon City.
Militant, cynical, chauvinistic, barbaric... all of these described the typical Warrior well. Some would say that you could add the words "arrogant," "misguided," and even "backwards" to the list. However you wanted to categorize them, the Warriors of Paragon City took their style of warfare seriously. You wouldn't see them carrying a gun or wearing modern body armor; all they relied upon were their swords and martial training.
But there were a few amongst them who were "special." Much like your typical super-hero or villain, these elite Warriors had honed their talents - or stole them through some magical ritual - to become leaders of men and "Gods amongst soldiers." They gave themselves names that harkened back to the ancient days where swords and shields were used instead of guns. Leonidas. Alexander. Pythagoras.
Heracles was one of these Warrior elite. He was always a power-hungry, jealous man, even before he managed to fight his way into the Warriors. His six-foot-plus, muscle-stacked frame was intimidating enough to most people; the fact that he could hit like a freight train helped a lot, too. His trademark zweihander sword was recognized by all Warriors as a symbol of station and acheivement. His "unit", the Spartans, were one of the most respected and feared.
But then Heracles crossed the wrong woman.
Stephanie Peebles was the unfortunate victim of random chance, or so it seemed. Heracles just happened to be at the local watering hole, and he had noticed that Stephanie's lost wedding ring sitting near the bar's cash register. The re-named Greek God had an eye for fine jewelry, and something seemed to draw him towards the ring. So he snatched it from the bar and walked right out.
Once she realized what had happened, Stephanie put a plan into motion to get her prized possession back. First, she had to find someone resourceful enough to find the ring. The next step was to find someone to get the ring back. The lucky hero that got to retrieve the ring was Ms. Shock.
The English super-heroine made short work of the Spartans. Every last one of them tasted electricity and bone-crushing punches designed to incapacitate quickly and without mercy. She had just shocked the last of Heracles' bodyguards into a coma, and still he would not join battle.
"You are not worth my time," was all he would say. "A woman! Bah! A woman cannot beat the most powerful man in the world!" He flexed his muscles as black and blue fire danced around his body. "And with this ring, I will become the ruler of Paragon City!"
Ms. Shock shook her head. "No, you won't. There is always someone better," she said in a sagely voice. "I was better than your Spartans, so why shouldn't I be able to challenge the best of them?" She tilted her head just slightly; her eyes seemed to give off an arrogant sheen of their own.
Ms. Shock was trying to goad Heracles on, and it worked. Heracles reached for his massive zweihander and swung it in a wide arc behind him and into a fighting position. "You fool! You will burn in Hades with the rest of the weaklings! The ring is MINE!"
The heroine lifted her hands upwards; electricity gathered around her forearms and built up into writhing spheres in her palms. With a thought, she commanded the lightning to imprison her opponent. The electricity shot forward, enveloped the Warrior, and harmlessly dissipated as Heracles kept charging towards Ms. Shock. Ms. Shock's eyes went wide in surprise. Oh, bloody hell! She had only one shot to imprison him, and it just got wasted.
Heracles began a long over-hand swing. As it came down, Ms. Shock spun out of the way and to the left; the blade came crashing down on the concrete floor and left sizable cracks in its wake. By the time Heracles looked to reacquire his opponent, Ms. Shock was already flying backwards and launching another lightning bolt towards him. Heracles flinched and winced, but the lightning bolt had little effect.
Ms. Shock cursed. Heracles was a lot tougher than the other Warriors she fought to get this far. Her lighter attacks were having little to no effect so far. As Heracles pulled his sword up and in position for another attack, she decided to try something different.
Ms. Shock settled to the ground as Heracles charged again. Her armor circuitry switched blue to red as she settled into a low martial arts stance; her weight was set on her back leg so her front leg could lightly touch the ground in front of her. Her hands settled in a relaxed fashion in front of her. Wait for it, she thought to herself. Hold...
Heracles's approach paused for just a moment as he shifted his weight into his hips. The swing would come from the right. Ms. Shock shifted her weight forward and ducked under the swinging blade, and it barely missed decapitating her. Red light gathered around her hands she thrust forward and knocked Heracles across the warehouse and through a nearby conveyer belt. His sword clattered on the ground somewhere behind him.
Ms. Shock had to act fast before he got up. She raised one arm and began to concentrate. Lightning coarsed through her armor and into her outstretched hand. She felt the power build up and kept adding more. A warning message flashed on her HUD: The energy build up was threatening to disrupt the fragile electrical grid in the area.
With a furious cry, Ms. Shock loosed the lightning bolt towards Heracles. The energy sliced through whatever effect the blue flames had placed upon him and seared both fabric and flesh. His body twitched uncontrollably from the electrical attack.
The heroine didn't wait for Heracles to get up. She attacked again as he began to get up, and again as he pulled two K-Bar knives from his boots. Still, Heracles staggered forward, weakened and bloodied not yet defeated.
"COWARD!!" Heracles yelled as he spat blood on the ground. "You won't fight me how a warrior should fight?" The blue fire around his body had dimmed, but it still offered him whatever power it could provide. His clothes were burned and smoke rose from his injuries.
"No, I won't," Ms. Shock said nonchalantly as she felt her armor recharge. "I have a distinct advantage over you, and I intend to use it."
"Really?" Heracles sneered.
He moved so fast Ms. Shock barely registered that anything had happened. The next thing she realized two knives were being thrown in her direction. She raised one hand to try to deflect the incoming blades. Ms. Shock felt something punch through her armor and into her right shoulder; the impact twirled her around and into the ground.
Heracles laughed as Ms. Shock screamed in pain. The knife had caught her between two plates of armor on her Exo-Storm armor. The materials in the suit were not enough to protect her from injury... I must have a talk with Section Q about that! she thought angrily. Blood flowed freely from the wound, and Ms. Shock swore she felt her collarbone was broken. The pain diminished as her armor's onboard medical system took over; medical nanites were being rerouted to her shoulder in an effort to keep things from getting worse.
A vicious kick to her ribs broke her thought processes again. She coughed up blood and gasped for air as she fell on to her back. Through a haze of white and colorful sparkles, she saw Heracles standing over her. Somehow, he had reacquired his sword.
Ms. Shock managed to dodge Heracles's sword again as it came crashing down to end her life. Her hasty escape got her far enough away and gave her enough time for more ranged attacks. The knife in her shoulder was now gone; it fell out of the wound as she rolled away to safety. Her right arm still felt numb and weak, and it wouldn't move.
Ms. Shock tore the re-breathing mask off of her face. It clattered to the ground unceremoniously, and she felt like she could finally breathe easier. Heracles staggered forward; the lightning attacks were wearing him down slowly. Residual energies danced on his body, and the blue flames had finally snuffed themselves out.
"So... there is a woman... under the mask," Heracles said slowly. He shuffled forward, sword in hand, towards his weakened opponent. "I was... beginning... to wonder if you... were a demon... from Hades," he continued, inching ever closer.
Ms. Shock kept trying to move her right arm, but it simply would not do so. Her collarbone wasn't broken, but she simply could not feel her arm. Come on... COME ON! she thought furiously.
The zweihander clattered to the ground. Heracles kept moving forward without it; his hands balled up into meaty fists. "I've always wondered... what it was like... to conquer a female... super-hero," he mused quietly. "Maybe... I'll make you... my first!"
Ms. Shock felt her right arm again, just as if someone had flipped a switch. She immediately swung a fist towards Heracles, but she missed. Her second blow connected with Heracles's face and sent him backwards. She felt her armor recharging again; she felt no pain, no injury. There was only anger.
"I... AM... NOT... YOUR... PLAYTHING!" Ms. Shock punctuated each word with another attack. Punch, punch, left hook, right hook, spinning/jumping roundhouse kick! Heracles collapsed the ground and did not move. Ms. Shock dropped to her knees on top of Heracles's legs and rose her hands up above her head. Concentrated energy pulsed over her hands, prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
Her eyes were distracted for a moment; she saw a brief reflection of light off of the ring on Heracles's right pinky finger. It was the wedding ring Stephanie Peebles had asked her to retrieve. Something about it gave Ms. Shock a reason to pause. The light emanating from her hands faded to a dull glow.
It didn't look like much, really. It was a simple golden band with a square-cut diamond mounted in the center. The stone was slightly dull, and the band had several small nicks in it. It barely fit on Heracles's finger.
And, for some reason, looking at it had a calming effect upon the angry heroine. This is what I came for, she thought, Killing this bastard isn't worth the effort. Ms. Shock twisted and shimmied the ring off of the thief's hand and put it in a pouch on her belt. She stood up and began to walk over to where she tossed her re-breather mask.
Ms. Shock picked up the mask as she heard a raspy cough from behind her. She glanced back towards her foe; Heracles was still on his back, and blood dribbled down his chin and across his cheek. "Weakness," he croaked quietly. "Such a quality is unbecoming of a champion."
Ms. Shock turned back towards the broken Warrior. She wiped the blood from her own mouth and chin. "That's twice you misjudged me, Heracles," she chided.
"Then finish it. Take your rightful place as champion, as a God amongst soldiers!" he responded, his voice demanding compliance. "Show me your strength!" he demanded again.
Ms. Shock raised his right arm towards Heracles. There was a popping sound as a pair of needles shot from her arm and impacted squarely into Heracles's exposed sternum. Those needles were attached to metallic wires that lead into Ms. Shock's right gauntlet. Electricity screamed down the wires and sent Heracles's body into a fit of spasms; the taser gun made him curl up into a fetal position and scream in pain. There was a long string of crackling sounds before Heracles finally passed out.
Ms. Shock grabbed the bare wires and pulled the taser needles out of his body. The wires rewound into their launcher and clicked audibly into place, ready to be fired again. With her opponent subdued, Ms. Shock quickly put her re-breather mask back on. "PPD Dispatch, this is Ms. Shock, over." It took a few seconds for the response to come through.
"Ms. Shock, this is PPD Talos Island; go ahead, over."
"Dispatch, I have a villain, code-name Heracles, in custody. Request extraction, over," she told the Paragon Police Department.
"Um... negative, Ms. Shock. Teleporter network is shut down at the moment. I can send officers to your location, over."
What the bloody deuce? "Roger, Dispatch. Location is Pier 34, warehouse 6, south entrance."
With that done, Ms. Shock grabbed the unconscious Warrior leader by his clothing and dragged him out of the warehouse.
She didn't think about the ring again until she had returned it to Stephanie. Ms. Shock landed softly a few feet away from where Stephanie tended to her garden. She looked up from her azaleas expectantly; her face beamed when Ms. Shock pulled the wedding ring from her pouch.
"Oh! Thank you, Ms. Shock! Thank you!" She took the ring quickly and embraced the superhero "I'm so grateful for this!" Ms. Shock gently pushed Stephanie away.
"Don't worry about it. The bastard had it coming," she said matter-of-factly. "There is something I've been meaning to ask you, though..." Stephanie gave Ms. Shock a knowing nod; it seemed she had an idea that this question was coming.
"Guess you figured out there's more to the ring than I told you, huh?" she asked with a smile. Ms. Shock gave her a nod in response. "You see, I'm what those people at MAGI call a sorceress. Down here on Striga, people tend to use the word witch.
"Magic just runs in the family. When I got married, it only seemed natural to enchant my wedding ring. I've used it a few times... but I think it will serve a better use to someone that can truly use it." She smiled again at Ms. Shock before extending her hand back towards her. "No hard feelings?"
Ms. Shock took the ring with two fingers and slipped it on to her right hand. Immediately, she felt a very faint emotion wash over her. She felt... comfortable... protected. A faint, blue, flame-like aura coalesced over her hand and slowly enveloped her body. The heroine looked back at Stephanie. "What is this?" she asked in surprise.
"It's the power of love. What else would you expect from a wedding ring?" Stephanie asked. "Its enchantments will protect you from harm. It won't make you invincible, though..."
Ms. Shock nodded. "That was Heracles's downfall. He thought he was the best, untouchable, perhaps even God-like."
Stephanie smiled and nodded. "They don't make them like they used to, I guess." With a smile, Ms. Shock offered her hand to Stephanie, who took it and firmly shook it.
"No, they don't," Ms. Shock responded.
