[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.]
Barbara raged inside.
Her face was a rictus of effort, as she pushed with all her might against the monstrous mountain of muscle that was the Supa-Troll. He had the advantages of height, mass and girth - and just possibly, strength.
This was galling, bitterly galling. She knew the news cameras were catching this, she knew the Trolls were watching and delighting in her apparent suffering - but most of all, she knew her beloved daughter was watching, with love and devotion and faith in her. That belly-battering barrage had winded her, but that was no excuse.
Would she
always
have to appear this weak, in front of the most precious person in the world to her? Did she have to be seen losing to this odious monster?
He loomed over her now, his bulk almost engulfing her. Her muscles flexed as hard as they could, but any moment now, she could feel it, her strength would give out and her knee would touch the ground.
She could hear Cindy yelling encouragement, cheering her on. That always gave her strength. It was doing so now - but would it be enough?
The foul, reeking stench of the Supa-Troll was overwhelming in such close proximity. She would have gagged, except that she had to take in as much oxygen as she could to fuel her straining muscles.
No, she told herself. She couldn't lose. She had to be stronger than this. She was Cindy's mother. She knew how proud Cindy was of her. She couldn't give such a poor showing. She had to do better. She had to be stronger than this mutated degenerate.
She dug deep, as deeply as she had dug during her duel with Valerie. She called it up again, that boiling anger at the thought of harm coming to her daughter. Her knee was hovering just an inch above the asphalt road surface now... She could not lose. She refused to lose. She was Battler Babe, the proud mother of Battleborn, a defender of Paragon City. She had to be stronger than this.
The long moments passed. By dint of immense exertion, Barbara managed to keep from losing. And, ever so slowly, she began to push back.
Cindy's screams of support were like a lighthouse in the storm. She closed her eyes, and thought of her daughter. Bit by bit, the pain and fatigue in her lower back, her thighs, and her arms and shoulders began to melt away. She got her second wind - she braced for a big push.
But that second wind did not last long - the Troll roared in frustration, shook his hands free, and wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her breath out of her. She stiffened and cried out at the constricting pressure around her torso, just under her ribs. That was the hardest part of the torso to protect: higher, and she could flex her thick lats to resist any crushing pressure; lower, and her formidable abs could do it. But right in the middle, her bones were being painfully grinded, and she had only the small intercostal muscles with which to put up some resistance.
"At least I didn't lose the test of strength!" she told herself. But it was scant consolation. She had been on the losing end, and every moment of that was a moment in which her strength was not being asserted. It wasn't helping the larger objective of appearing dominant over the foul Troll.
She gritted her teeth, as the crushing pressure on her torso increased. The ugly, leering face of the Supa-Troll was right in between her breasts. Barbara balled her fists, tensed her arms, and sent them crashing simultaneously into both sides of the Troll's head.
The Troll's eyes went unfocused. His arms suddenly went limp, and Barbara slipped out of his loathsome grasp, gasping and holding her aching ribs. While she recovered, the Supa-Troll staggered backwards, holding his head and moaning.
Cindy's exultant cheering rose above the hubbub of the angry Trolls. "Yes! Go Mom! Pound him down!"
She would have dearly loved to win a contest of muscle, as she remembered she had done, when she was younger and stronger. But that was a luxury for her now, she thought ruefully. Her objective was to win. She had to stay focused on that.
Perhaps she could capitalize on this momentary advantage. She gathered herself, and leaped at the Supa-Troll with a flying straight right - what people in fighting circles called a "Statesman punch", after the iconic Hero.
It landed with a satisfyingly solid smack, right in the middle of his face, which was knocked back in an explosion of blood and a few teeth. Finally - she had scored a meaningful blow! Yelling, she threw yet another flurry of punches at her huge opponent.
Her fists sank into the tough green flesh. This time her punches were having an effect - she could see it. The Supa-Troll was finally getting worn down.
But he wasn't down for the count yet. He recoiled from a mighty left hook by Barbara, but reacted with a backhand sweep that struck her face. She reeled, stunned. Then, more quickly than she had anticipated, his massive right fist followed, catching her jaw.
Her vision swam. She stood, her legs feeling wobbly. Somewhere, she could hear Cindy yelling, but she couldn't make out what her daughter was saying. But her opponent loomed up in front of her, a large monstrous presence, and engulfed her, scooping her up and pinning her arms to her sides.
Her head slowly began to clear, but she awakened to a world of pain - once again, she was being squeezed in a bear hug, except this time, the Supa-Troll had lifted her clean off the ground, and trapped her arms. She wriggled and struggled, but to no avail - in this position, he was too strong for her to outmuscle. She had no leverage.
And the nagging thought arose in her, telling her that even if the leverage were equal - even in an even contest of strength - she would lose.
She groaned, weakly, straining to maintain her abdominal resiliency. It felt very nearly as bad as when Valerie had tortured her abs thoroughly during their junkyard duel. That had been one of the most absolutely harrowing ordeals of her life, and this was starting to come very close.
"Girly weak," the Supa-Troll snorted derisively, his mouth twisted with sadistic glee as he squeezed with every ounce of strength he could muster. "Crush girly hero. Girly hero lose. Supa-Troll win!"
Barbara had one chance left. In her current position, the only thing she could do was to use her legs.
So she did, raising them and snapping her thighs around the Supa-Troll's torso. His eyes widened in surprise as she began to squeeze, clamping as hard as she could with her leg muscles, locking her ankles behind the Troll's body.
She locked eyes with the Troll, glaring, matching his fury with her own. "I'm strong," she whispered, as she squeezed, at a volume only the both of them could hear. "I'm stronger than you."
Her leg muscles trembled as she did her very best to prove that claim.