Daughter Lover Superheroine Ch 05

[This story is set in Paragon City, taken from the former MMO game City of Heroes. All place names, hero names and registered trademarks belong to their rightful legal owners and are not intended as copyright infringement in any way. This work is purely meant as a piece of entertainment, and not for commercial purposes in any way, shape or form.]

[The precursor to this series is entitled "Mom the Superheroine".]

[Though there are incestuous elements between a mother and her consenting adult daughter here, this story is really about the personal journey of two superheroines.]

*****

"Will you be Cindy's trainer?"

It was strange how difficult it was for Barbara to say those simple words. One superheroine with a protégé daughter, asking a more experienced and frankly more powerful superheroine colleague to take the young woman under her wing - what could be more natural? But of course, for Barbara, it was much different.

"Sure, don't see why not. Would be honored to. She's a real promising kid. When does she want to start?

"Actually... she doesn't know yet. I'm asking on her behalf."

"Ah. Right."

There was silence. Then, Michelle said, more guardedly, "You sure she'll be ok with this? I mean, you're her mother and all, but she's a grown woman. Also, she might not want to train with a non-meta like me..."

"Oh no, that isn't the case at all, and you know it!" Barbara exclaimed. "You're Back Alley Brawler's cousin, and on first-name terms with the Phalanx. You've seen much more combat experience than I have, and your skills are... are far superior to mine. Cindy can only benefit from your guidance."

"Shucks, that's awfully kind of you to say, Barb. I'll be the first to admit, I can handle myself in a fight. But what does she think? I mean, she's gonna be used to your style. You both have pretty much the same powers. She must be pretty used to training with someone who can go toe to toe with her."

That argument held some water. But Barbara persisted.

"She's got power, and toughness, like me - but you and I both know, power is useless without direction. She also lacks experience, and I don't have all that much of it myself, I'm afraid. Michelle, I..." Barbara sighed. "I'm... really a homemaker at heart. All I ever wanted before I met Steve - Dr. Sheldon - was basically a life in suburbia! It's laughable, I know, but that was what I wanted - a house, a family, white picket fences, cookies for the neighbors' kids..."

[Author's Note: See "Mom the Superheroine 01" for more about Dr Steve Sheldon, Barbara's deceased ex-husband.]

There was coughing on the other end of the line. Barbara waited patiently for Michelle to recover. She was flushing with self-consciousness - but she had to make Back Alley Fury understand why it was so important that she accept Cindy as her trainee.

"Yes, you see, that's who I really am, inside," she continued, after Michelle had mumbled an apology. "I'm not a soldier, or a leader. I'm not ambitious. Fame is something I could do without, actually. That's why I hit my plateau long ago, before the Rikti War, even.

"I've done all I can for Cindy already - I see that now. She needs to take the next step. She needs to learn more than I can teach her. And she likes you and looks up to you, Michelle - you know she does. You're the best possible choice. Please will you consider it?"

Michelle sighed. "Well, if she's willing, I don't mind one bit, Barb. Like I said, it's an honor to be asked, and you ain't gotta put yourself down none. You're a fine, upstanding member of Paragon's finest, and that hasn't changed. What you do in your private life, as far as I'm concerned, is your own affair and none of anyone's damn business."

That was perhaps as close to an outright acknowledgement as Barbara would get from Michelle - acknowledgement of the unorthodox love Barbara and Cindy shared.

"What say we meet for coffee, and talk it over, all three of us together?"

"That would be fine. Thank you so much, Michelle," Barbara said, unable to keep the relief out of her voice. "It means a lot to me."

"Aw, hell, ain't nothing," Michelle mumbled. Then, "Hey, you know what... scrap the coffee. I got a better idea. But I'll need some time. Maybe... uh... look, give me a day or two. I'll get back to you. Alright?"

"Um, yes, sure."

"Just gotta see if I can swing something, get the ok from the FBSA. Should be fine, I got strings to pull, but we'll have to see. Ok, be in touch. Thanks for calling, Barb. You take care now."

The call ended. Barbara put down the phone and sighed, looking out the kitchen window.

She was making a chicken casserole for dinner - a nutritious protein-rich feast chock full of nutrients for the growing superheroine. Chicken, bacon, eggs, button mushrooms, sweet potatoes and onion, spiced with thyme, extra-virgin olive oil sprinkled liberally. It was one of Cindy's absolute favorites, and she loved making it for her daughter. This was what she had always done best - taking care of Cindy, making sure she was well-nourished and had all the support she needed in her life to do whatever she wanted to do.

Weeks had passed since the visit to Perez Park. Cindy had become fearless and ever more enthusiastic in the ongoing battle to make the city a safer place. The thugs of Kings Row now scattered helter-skelter when they sighted her. Random strangers on the street stopped to thank or congratulate her for some recent deed. Shops offered discounts. Steel Canyon University offered bursaries and scholarships.

At the University, she had long since quit her position of varsity wrestling team captain - for obvious reasons - but now she was their unofficial mascot. The female cheerleaders dressed up in versions of her costume and pumped extra iron in the gym to bulk up, so that they would look more impressive when they flexed like her in their routines. Now, everywhere one looked on campus, one could see lines of bulging muscles on most of the young women.

Even a phrase Cindy had once said to the news cameras had caught on, as a popular T-shirt design: "Work Hard, Stay Humble!" She'd simply said it was a personal credo of hers, but the adoring public found it inspiring.

Public adulation was fickle... but if anyone deserved their time in the sun, it was surely her wonderful daughter.

Cindy had also joined a group of relatively green heroes in the sewers recently, fighting an eruption of Dr. Vahzilok's cadaverous creations, and had shown herself to be the most capable member of the team. From what Barbara had heard, she had also shown herself to have the makings of a leader. She did have natural charisma, and her ability to inspire could make up for any lapses in tactical acumen... for the time being, anyway.

Barbara could not be prouder of her beloved daughter. And that was why she knew, she had to let go.

But Cindy would think differently, she knew. Her daughter would cling. Cindy would insist that her mother was the only trainer she truly needed. Cindy would be happy to stay in their cozy lovebirds' nest, indefinitely - just a daughter with her mother, no one else, except for their forays into the outside world to keep helping people.

Part of Barbara wanted that too. Part of her wanted nothing more than to simply continue enjoying what she had with Cindy every day and every night - waiting for her to finish at the University, then going out to patrol, and then at night doing their vigorous best to give each other multiple climaxes.

But she was a mother, first and foremost - she was a mother before she was a lover. Cindy had to move on, to grow, to go further than her own mother ever had. No matter how heart-wrenching it would be for Barbara, she would set things in motion.

She only hoped Cindy would be able to accept it soon.

***

Despite everything, Barbara could not bring herself to broach the subject with her daughter for the next couple of days. And when Michelle called, she made no mention of Barbara's request. Instead, she gave them an address in Atlas Park, not too far from City Hall.

It seemed to be an unprepossessing building on the outside - a vacant shop-space in the front, and a metal door behind for the loading bay. Michelle had asked them to meet at the loading bay.

"Hey, kiddo," she said, grinning at Cindy. "Been making waves, huh?"

Cindy laughed and threw her arms around Michelle in a hug. Michelle looked over Cindy's shoulder at Barbara, with a questioning quirk of her eyebrow.

Barbara shook her head slightly, a rueful look in her eye. Michelle gave a tiny shrug.

"What's all this about? What're we doing here?" Cindy asked, looking around curiously.

"See, I was talking to your mom the other day, and I got to thinking: Battler Babe and Battleborn need a proper base of operations," Michelle crooked her thumb at the metal door behind her. As ever, every gesture from her made her rippling muscles move in interesting ways. "Proper facilities, and such. No more training around with junk in the junkyard, girls!

"Also, since your identities aren't really secret, living in your Kings Row apartment is an open invitation for any no-good crazy-ass scum-sucking bottom-feeding villain to mess up your lives something awful. That ain't good.

"So, I wangled this from the FBSA. This was a Super Group base back in the day, but it went defunct. Place got abandoned. The systems are all still in good working order though. Should provide you with decent security. You can move in, if you decide you like the place. And well, you could start up your own Super Group, if you got a mind to. What do you say, huh?"

Cindy gasped. "You... you did this for us?"

"Heh. I won't lie, it did take some doing to cut through some red tape," Michelle said, blowing imaginary dust from her knuckledusters, looking a bit smug. "Yep, it's for you both. Want to take the tour?"

Cindy threw her arms around Michelle again in a tight hug, causing the towering ebon giantess to stagger back and almost lose her balance. "Whoa there," she laughed, returning the embrace. "You gotta remember, kiddo, you're stronger than a charging bull!"

Barbara approached, holding out her hand. "I... I'm overwhelmed," she said. "This is more than I expected. This couldn't have been easy for you to accomplish. We're very grateful, Michelle."

Michelle took the proffered hand and shook it firmly. "Well, you should take a look around the place first before you make up your mind. Come on, let's go in, shall we? I'll be your friendly neighborhood realtor. Ha, that's a good gig, these days. Property market's on the up and up, or so they say. Of course, that ain't gonna last forever," Michelle remarked, as she flipped open an innocuous switchbox beside the metal gate and opened a secret panel.

"This security pad here can be configured later for biometric sampling, to control access," she told them, as she punched in a numeric code. "Retina, fingerprints, genetic markers, and so on. Can't be too careful."

It was good to know, Barbara reflected, that there would likely be no more ignominious kidnappings of her daughter in future!

She still burned with secret shame, sometimes, at the memory of how Valerie Phelps, the Vicious Vixen, and her daughter Elena had tormented them and utterly humiliated her. Yes, she had exorcised that demon in some sense, with her final triumph over her bitter rival, and their arrest and incarceration, without parole this time. But Valerie had inflicted too many wounds, both physical and psychological.

Barbara would always remember what it had felt like, the jarring frisson of shock when she entered that warehouse, to see her dear, dear Cindy hanging from a hook, strung up like a side of beef. She would always remember the initial shock of seeing Valerie's enhanced physique, and the subsequent shame of losing a contest of muscular strength - losing to the woman who had stolen her husband - in front of their watching daughters.

She would always remember each blow of the beatdown Valerie had dealt her, and the final humiliation of being so weakened that a non-powered Elena had been able to outmuscle her in a test of strength, and wring the final surrender from her lips... with the ensuing consequences for both Barbara and Cindy. Cindy had suffered them too, alongside her, because she hadn't been strong enough to win.

A "scared little housewife," Valerie had snarled at her, at various points. The vicious woman had been right, all along, about the "housewife" bit at least.

Such shame would stay with her for life. The agony of defeat and the sorrow of letting her daughter down had marked her psyche. Sometimes, when Cindy was not around to be like a light chasing away the darkness, those memories would return, unbidden.

With a proper base, the odds of any such things happening were not eliminated, but were greatly reduced. This was yet another reason Cindy had to be let go, to pursue her career with others who could provide aid and valuable resources.

She was ashamed of her own cowardice and possessiveness so far - but that would change. If the base was acceptable - and there was probably no reason that it would not be - then she would tell Cindy, there and then, that from this day on she would be trained by Michelle White, Back Alley Fury.

It was magnificent. The power generator hummed to life, somewhere deep within the building, and the vibrations could be felt subtly, beneath their feet. The luminescent lighting panels went on, one by one, down the entrance hallway, and in the security room beside the door. It was a high-technology base, and even though some of the hardware was probably a bit outdated by now, it had clearly been designed to survive city-destroying cataclysms.

They stopped by first at the security terminal.

"Gotta register you properly with the system first. Software needs patching, but the FBSA will send over technicians and all that later. I'm registered already, but you need to put your details in," Michelle explained.

"Go on, Cindy, you first," Barbara said encouragingly, pushing Cindy forward. Cindy was practically hopping with excitement as she stood there while the machinery scanned her, and provided a full-body schematic diagram in 3D.

"Name? Full name, as it appears on official records," Michelle prompted.

"Huh? Oh. Right." Cindy cleared her throat, and said her given name clearly, the name her mother had given her.

"Cynthia Victoria Beck."

And then, her registered superheroine name:

"Battleborn."

And there it was: her daughter had just taken ownership of her very first base. Barbara was so proud, she thought she would burst.

***

"This place used to belong to a group calling themselves the Shining Stars," Michelle told them, as they walked along the corridors. "I never met any of them myself, but I heard a little about them. Promising group, about seven or eight strong, even got Justin to - oh, sorry, I meant Manticore. Aw, hell, not like you don't already know. Justin Sinclair is Manticore, and he sponsored the Shining Stars at one point. But well, some shit went down, and they went their separate ways. Real pity."

The facility was just huge - far too big for only two. Barbara said as much. "This would really be spoiling us, Michelle - this was meant for a good-sized group, like the Shining Stars you mention!"

"Well, like I said, you might want to start posting recruitment ads," Michelle grinned. "Cindy's reputation is through the roof right now, within the neighborhood anyway."

"I do think," Barbara said quickly, before Cindy could voice her enthusiastic agreement, "that we would need to consider that very carefully. There are all kinds of things to be mindful of when putting together a Super Group, and I'm not sure we have the necessary experience to make the best judgments yet."

Cindy nodded respectfully. But Michelle only said, "Hm. Fair enough I suppose, although I think you'll find that overthinking it can lead to a lot of missed chances. Oh well, you'll find the right approach for you both," she said, as she stopped beside a big pair of double-doors and palmed it.

They didn't open. Frowning, Michelle tried again, unsuccessfully. The doors - huge bulkheads, were sealed.

"Hm? What's the matter with this thing," she muttered, squinting at the panel.

Cindy and Barbara both tried, with similar results. Then Michelle smacked her head.

"Aw, hell! Right! I'd forgotten. These are sealed. This was, uh... the documents said it was some kind of defunct portal room. It's huge, in there, but they shut it all down and sealed it off. Nothing to worry about, I guess, but we ain't getting in there. Moving on."

There were machines in the Training Room that could serve as gym equipment for women like them. With those machines, Barbara and Cindy would be able to adjust for their own strength levels, and train various muscle groups with superhuman weights, all in considerable safety thanks to the machines' failsafe mechanisms.

Cindy tried out one of them, gripping the titanium-alloy bars to perform a standing shoulder-press with half a ton of "weight" - resistance generated by the machinery. She gasped with delight as her muscles shook with the strain. Barbara was gladdened at the sight - no more would her darling daughter have to train with concrete blocks and massive steel beams and other pieces of industrial detritus! Cindy deserved so much better than that.

In the medical room, there were highly advanced diagnostic machines, and recovery beds that were on par with the equipment found in the hospitals, providing enhanced cellular regeneration for quick healing. And of course, like the devices used by hospitals and government facilities, they were manufactured by Crey. Cindy wrinkled her nose a bit at that.

"Aren't there any alternatives?" she grumbled. "I'd prefer not to use Crey stuff if we can avoid it at all."

"Well, not likely," Michelle said bluntly. "Ever since the Rikti War, Crey's been the top dog in the pharmaceutical and medical industries. That Countess is a piece of work, all right, but they took enough Rikti technology to stay top of the pile. Until someone else, like Tony Kord maybe, can come up with something to compete with Crey, we're stuck using their tech."

Cindy sighed. "Well, I hope someone comes up with something soon. Healthcare shouldn't be the hostage of nefarious, despicable sociopaths with obscene wealth."

"Word up, yo. Hey, Cindy, step into this thing for a bit, would you," Michelle requested, fiddling with some dials. "Barbara, you'll want to look at this too. I think you'll find it real interesting."

Cindy looked at her mother, who shrugged and acquiesced. Only then did she step up onto the circular platform indicated.

Barbara went over to stand beside Michelle, who was pushing some buttons. "What's this thing?"

"This machine is capable of providing detailed information about someone's powers," Michelle informed them. "Basically, it'll tell us all the important things about what we can or can't do. I've been wanting to get Cindy on one of these things - I got a gut feeling about a thing or two."

"Ooh," Cindy said, impressed. Then, as the machine's scanners activated, she stood still, instinctively adopting the superheroine pose - hands balled on hips, feet apart, shoulders squared, chest proudly thrust out.

Just looking at her daughter in that pose made Barbara a little weak in the knees. She fidgeted self-consciously, wondering if her arousal was obvious to Michelle.

Soon, the data appeared on the screens.

"Well. Here it is. Unfortunately," Michelle gave the machine a little playful kick, "I don't speak computerese. English, motherfucker, do you speak it?" she yelled at the terminal. "Heh. Sorry. Always wanted to do that. Anyway, let's see what sense we can make of this gobbledygook..."