Girl Power Omnibus (Gender Swap Superhero Fiction)

by P. T. Dilloway

  “Shut up!” Elise roared. She held the trident to Midnight Spectre’s throat. Inside she wanted to cry with frustration. There were far too many of the enemy for even her with the power of the royal trident. It wouldn’t take long for her and the guards to be overwhelmed. Eventually the aliens would swarm over Pacifica and kill Ariel along with everyone else. Maybe she should return there so she could at least be with her daughter in their final moments.

  The ground beneath Elise’s feet rumbled. Were there still trains operating down here? That might at least give them a route of escape. She soon realized it wasn’t a train; it was the aliens.

  These weren’t the ships they had fought previously; these were bipedal robots about Elise’s height. Each of the robots had red eyes that shined in the darkness. Elise tightened her grip on the trident. Now here was a threat she and her guards could handle easier. “For Pacifica!” she shouted before she charged.

  The robots apparently had laser cannons attached to their arms. Elise weaved from right to left to avoid most of these while her trident protected her from the rest. As she neared the first of the robots, she jumped into the air. She brought the trident down through the neck of a robot. She was gratified to watch it spark and then for its red eyes to go dark.

  With the trident still buried in the neck of the robot, she swung the robot around to smash into its fellows. This decapitated it for good, freeing up the trident. Elise paid little attention to what she stabbed; she thrashed around with the trident to kill as many as she could.

  At some point she realized Killer Whale was next to her. Her sister had a spear that she used almost as effectively as the trident. It seemed odd that after so many years as enemies they should die together as sisters. Too bad their mother hadn’t lived to see it.

  As with the ships above, there were simply too many of the aliens. Attrition began to take its toll. Elise saw General Kod go down with a half-dozen laser burns in his breastplate. Others of her guard were as brave, all of them fearless warriors giving their lives for Pacifica and the rest of the world.

  A bolt seared through Elise’s right arm. The trident dropped from her hand; she soon followed it. One of the robots leveled its arm to finish her off—

  Its eyes went dark as a spear lanced through it. A hand yanked Elise back by her left arm. She looked up to see her sister dragging her back. With her other hand Killer Whale took the trident. She swiped at the robots to hold them off. Those who remained of her guard threw themselves into the fray to protect their queen.

  Killer Whale had almost gotten Elise behind a pillar when a laser cut through her left calf. She cried out with pain and then collapsed. Elise grabbed her sister by the back of her dress and then screamed as she yanked Killer Whale out of the line of fire.

  They lay entangled with each other behind the pillar. Elise ran a hand through her sister’s sweaty hair. “You fought well for Pacifica, my sister.”

  “As did you, my queen.”

  Despite the pain in her shoulder, Elise hugged her sister. It wouldn’t be long until the robots finished them off. With their wounds they couldn’t put up more than token resistance. At least they would die together, fighting for their homes.

  Elise saw a blur of movement cut through the subway station. Newspapers and garbage swirled in its wake from the high winds. A few seconds later, Elise heard metal smashing. A cheer went up from the guards.

  When it was over, Starla stood amidst the fallen robots, completely nude. She seemed to have realized this, as her cheeks turned bright red. Her embarrassment turned to concern when she saw Elise.

  She knelt down in front of Elise and Killer Whale. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll live. For now.”

  “And who’s this?”

  “This is my sister—”

  “Kenda,” Killer Whale said. They shared a private smile. Kenda had been their mother’s name. With how bravely Killer Whale had fought, Elise was sure their mother wouldn’t mind.

  “I’m—”

  “Apex Girl. We all know that,” Kenda said. “Where have you been?”

  “It’s a long story. The short version is that I was far away from here. Those robots are part of an entity that’s going to wipe all life off Earth unless we can stop it.”

  “There’s not much we can do about that,” Elise said. “But thank you for the rescue.”

  “Can you get back to Pacifica? They’ll probably need your help there.”

  “I’m sure we can manage,” Elise said. With her good arm she shook Starla’s hand. “It was good seeing you again.”

  “You too.”

  “Before you go back out there, you might want to get yourself some clothes.”

  “That seems like a good idea.”

  With Starla’s help, Elise got to her feet. She looked around the subway station. “Did you see Robin on your way in?”

  “No—”

  “Shit! That bitch escaped.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Never mind.” With the help of her guards, Elise and Kenda began to limp out of the subway station. Elise promised herself the next time she saw Midnight Spectre she wouldn’t waste any time to stab the bitch through the heart.

  ***

  The task force of Peacekeepers surrounded Slong. Even for his species Slong was remarkably stoic in the face of so much firepower. Sulfam leveled his staff at him. “Have you decided to surrender, traitor?”

  “I have decided to persuade you to see reason. Or rather those who have accompanied you. Your claws are much too dirty for reason.”

  “How dare you try to defame me, you dried-up chunk of rock.” Sulfam was tempted to lunge at Slong, but he couldn’t initiate the fight, not yet.

  Slong gestured with one massive hand to that disgusting backwater planet Earth. “What you see here is the real cause of so much genocide in the galaxy. It was never the Kor-Gans, especially the one called Gor-Bul. Her people merely became pawns in the Elders’s game.”

  “What are you talking about?” Sulfam said. “This is treason!”

  “You’re the one who committed treason. You and the Elders when you allied yourself with this thing, this destroyer of worlds.” Slong looked around at the other Peacekeepers. “If you don’t believe me, go down and see for yourselves. See the destruction it’s causing to this planet. Do that and you’ll see it bears the telltale marks of what happened on all those other planets we were told the Kor-Gans destroyed.”

  “Why should we listen another moment to the words of a traitor?”

  “I served the Elders faithfully for over a hundred years. Never have I broken my oath as a Peacekeeper. Do you think I would do so now?” Slong’s eyes flared with volcanic heat. “Do any of you dare to doubt me?”

  Sulfam looked around. He could hear the other Peacekeepers murmuring amongst themselves. He was losing them. Most of the Peacekeepers—including him—had heard the legendary exploits of Slong and Kila’s father Jocq. They had always been known as two of the bravest, noblest Peacekeepers in history. If it had been Kila here, it would have been easy enough to discredit her, but not a legend like Slong.

  With a cry of frustration and rage, Sulfam lunged forward. He drove his staff through Slong’s chest. Cracks began to spread throughout Slong’s body. There was no scream, only the equivalent of a smile on his face. “You lose, Sulfam,” Slong growled before his bubble winked out and his body spread out into a miniature asteroid belt.

  Sulfam looked around at the other Peacekeepers. They had a wide variety of faces, all of them angry. With a snarl he headed for Earth. He still had business with that traitor Kila.

  ***

  When Sally woke up she was still exhausted. Her entire body felt as if it had been pounded with a sledgehammer for a couple of hours. An old man appeared in her vision. She squinted at him for a moment before she remembered this was Alan. He had returned from the future to save her—and to bring her back to their daughter.

  “Take it easy
,” he said. “You’re still weak from the treatment.”

  “How—?” She could only get the one word out with how dry her throat was.

  “The first stage went perfectly. Take a look.” Alan held up a mirror so Sally could see the face of a grown woman. It wasn’t really her face; this face looked more like Starla’s with short brown hair and freckles. Maybe that was because the serum had come from Starla’s Crystal Lair. Alan ran a hand through her hair. “I thought of dyeing it blond, but I think it looks fine like this.”

  Sally nodded. At this point she didn’t care what color her hair was; she only cared about getting back to where they had been so they could save Jenny. “Speed?”

  “I’m not sure about that. I think you need to rest a little more—”

  Sally sat up and then nearly fell over from the suddenness of the move. Alan managed to catch her before she could tumble off. “Well, I’d say it’s working.”

  Sally nodded. She let Alan help her lie back down. She dozed on the bed for a few minutes, until he returned with some water. This she gratefully downed. After a few swallows she could speak again. “Thank you.”

  “Are you up to some dinner? You need to be at full strength before we can try to go back.”

  “I could eat.”

  Alan brought her a plate of baked beans. Sally had never been so happy for beans in all her life. She resisted the urge to bolt the food at superspeed; that was a good way to end up choking. Alan nibbled at his own plate of beans, but he had far less appetite. After all the years they’d known each other, she could tell he was hiding something.

  “What’s wrong?” she finally asked.

  “Before we can go back, there’s something you need to do for me.”

  “What?” she asked, dreading to hear him say she had to leave him behind or maybe even kill him.

  “I need you to use this on me.” From behind his back he took out what looked like a pink hairdryer. Sally knew what that was: it was a miniature version of the weapon Dr. Roboto had built.

  “Alan—”

  “I can’t go back like this, not to fight Omega. You have to make me Velocity Kid again.”

  “But you figured out how to make yourself a man again. Can’t you just make yourself younger?”

  “I wish it were that simple. When this is all over, I can make myself a man again.”

  “You promise?”

  “Of course. I’d never lie to you.”

  She nodded and then took the gun from him. She took a deep breath before she pulled the trigger. Tears sprang up in her eyes as she watched her husband start to change back into a woman. His screams turned higher in pitch as his body reverted into a woman’s. Since he didn’t have a shirt on, she had to watch as his breasts swelled into a pair much larger than hers.

  Once it was all over, Sally knelt down to roll Allison over. She gasped to see almost a replica of what her face had looked like. The hair was a couple shades lighter blond and the eyes brown, but otherwise she could easily pass as Sally Bass.

  As Sally began to wrestle Allison onto the bed where she had woke up not so long ago, it became clear who was Velocity Gal and who was Velocity Kid now. They were about the same age, but Sally was a good six inches shorter than Allison. After all those jokes about how Allison was really the superhero and Sally the sidekick, it seemed fitting that should finally be the case.

  She planted a kiss on Allison’s forehead and then went to find a few more cans of beans. They would both be hungry soon.

  Chapter 30

  It seemed ludicrous with the world ending all around her that Starla was shopping for clothes. The simple fact was her upbringing would not let her fly around the world buck-naked. Besides, she would cut a more inspiring figure if she were dressed properly.

  While she had to find something to wear, she didn’t have time to run all the way to the Crystal Lair and go through its security to retrieve her costume. Instead, she ducked through a broken window of a costume shop in Focal City. She figured if she couldn’t find an Apex Girl costume she might at least find something close.

  It turned out the store did have an Apex Girl costume in roughly her size. Starla’s face warmed as she held up what the store had labeled a “Sexy Apex Girl” costume. Her costume had already been far too revealing in her own mind, but this was even more so with a plunging neckline that would leave most of her breasts hanging out. The skirt managed to be even shorter, barely covering her privates. Conversely, the boots went all the way up to her knees. The end result when she turned to the mirror was that she looked enough like Apex Girl, especially at a distance.

  As she fitted the red mask to her face, her superhearing picked up a crash nearby. She bolted from the store and then down a couple of blocks, until she came to a stop in the middle of the street. At the end of the block was a portal of blue light. Was that some kind of weapon of the Peacekeepers or the monster in orbit?

  Her answer came a moment later when two figures appeared through the portal. She almost didn’t recognize them, except the costumes gave them away. Sally’s hair had gotten longer and lighter while Allison’s was shorter and darker. Between them they carried—a coffin?

  They skidded to a stop and then gently set the coffin on the pavement. Sally looked around, her eyes finally settling on Starla. “You’re here? We must have gone back farther than I thought.”

  “Gone back? From where?”

  “We’ve been in the future,” Allison said. “About twenty years, at least for me. It’s been longer for Allison.”

  Starla squinted at Velocity Kid. Now that she looked closer, the girl’s eyes were blue, not brown. “Sally?”

  “Yes. I’m the sidekick now. The way it’s supposed to be.”

  “I don’t understand. Why did you go to the future?”

  “We’ll explain later,” Allison—the real Allison—said. “What’s the date today?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Starla said. “I’ve been gone a while myself. Into deep space.”

  “Weren’t the Peacekeepers going to execute you?” Sally asked.

  “A friend helped me escape so we could come here and stop that thing.” She pointed up at the black object in the sky.

  “If Omega’s here then we’re not too early,” Allison said.

  “Omega?”

  “That’s the name it’s going by. In the future it destroys all animal life on Earth—including humans. That’s why we brought this back.” Allison patted the coffin.

  “Who’s in there?”

  “Not a who, a what.” She opened the lid of the coffin to reveal a bright red missile casing. “It’s an antimatter missile, possibly the only one in existence. We need to find a way to get it up there.”

  “I have an idea,” Starla said. She bent down to scoop up the missile. It wasn’t heavy, at least not now that her strength had returned.

  “The others will be in Redoubt City. We should get a situation report from them before we try anything,” Allison said.

  “I’ll race you there,” Starla said. Then she lifted into the air with the missile that might be their only hope.

  ***

  Diane felt as impotent as when she’d been brainwashed by Clownface. When this had all started, she’d been armed with a rocket launcher. Now she was down to the last clip on her Beretta. After this she’d have to throw rocks at the enemy.

  The only good thing was the foot soldiers were a lot easier to kill than the ships. She had managed to take out a few of the ships with her rocket launcher. They had decided after that to park offshore to land their troops. Paul did what he could with Midnight Spectre’s gunboat, but there was only so much he could do.

  With the soldiers all Diane had to do was hit them in the eye. That was easy enough for her, even with them shooting back at her with lasers. She began to imagine herself in the last Star Wars movie, with herself as one of the teddy bears hurling rocks at the robot soldiers with laser guns. In this case she expected the outcome would be differen
t.

  As she fired again, she heard a roar. Garlak charged into a group of the soldiers like an angry bull. The cavewoman’s body was scorched in a dozen places and yet she still fought on. That hide of hers seemed too tough even for the robots. Eventually Diane supposed the robots would use those ships of theirs to concentrate fire on Garlak, but until then she fought gamely.

  Diane had fired her last shot when the jetcopter landed gently down by the Ferris wheel, the whole plane glowing purple. From the jetcopter came Melanie, looking unhurt. The glow around the plane faded; a lavender-skinned elf descended from the sky to land next to Melanie.

  The elf carried a metal staff that generated a bubble around her and Melanie similar to what had surrounded the jetcopter. The laser blasts from the robots couldn’t seem to penetrate this bubble. Diane dropped her useless pistol to the ground to watch. What the hell was going on here?

  While the elf began to engage the robots, Melanie waved up at Diane. Still in shock, Diane waved back. Melanie left the protection of the bubble to race into the tunnel of love, near the roof of which Diane had set up shop.

  “That was quite an entrance,” she said.

  “Thanks to my new friend. She calls herself a Galactic Peacekeeper. They’re basically space cops.”

  ‘“They?”’

  “I guess she brought a whole bunch of them with her. They’re here to help us.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see a cop in my life.”

  “How are things down here?”

  “Bad. I’ve run completely dry and Garlak is pretty banged up. I think her stubbornness is keeping her going at this point. Crazy bitch refuses to die.”

  “I’m sorry I left you guys here—”

  “You’ve been doing your part. What about Tonya and Midnight Spectre?”

  “They’ve been hanging in there, but I think they’re running dry too. It might be time to go to our last resort.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A nuclear strike. The president has the codes. All I need to do is call her—”

  “Wouldn’t that kill all of us?”

  “We can go back to the bunker. It’s protected and there’s plenty of food and water to last a while.”