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Deadgal's phone rang on the coffee table. The night made things a little hard to see in the apartment. She reached up, felt around, then finally found it. "Yeah boss," she answered, half-awake.
"We found Ann Drogyne," Jill said. "Get down to 1110 Smith Street and I'll call Kiri."
"Don't bother," she said. "I'll tell her." She clicked the phone off and gently nudged Kiri. "Boss called. Time to get to work."
Kiri groaned and mumbled something. "Just give me five more minutes," she pleaded to no one.
Our Hero quickly slid on her pants. "They found Ann. We need to get down there before she gets away again."
"No," she whined while still half asleep. "No reverting." She grabbed Deadgal's arm and yanked her back onto the floor. "You stay like this."
She held Kiri's head and kissed her forehead gently. "You know I can't stay like this. Sooner or later, there's going to be a time where you won't want to be with me anymore." She looked up at her with pain and confusion. "I can't die," she explained. "That's going to wreck havoc on your mental and emotional state at some point. I don't mean to break your heart, or make you think this is a 'one and done' thing, but..."
"No, I understand," Kiri said softly, letting Deadgal go. They finished getting dressed in silence.
Deadgal and Kiri rushed into the bar. They found Valkadaidan already locked in combat with Ann Drogyne. Jill was trying to usher people out while the villain was distracted. "Valk, don't destroy that gun," DG ordered, running up to aid him. Kiri readied her shock bracelets and followed.
"Took you two long enough," Jill said, narrowly avoiding a tray being flung at her.
"There was traffic on the way," DG defended. "Hey, you, gimme that gun."
"As a great actor once said, 'From my cold, dead hands'," Drogyne retorted, firing off several more shots at the crowd. She quickly dodged Kiri's fist as it tried to hit her on the jaw. "Oh, you're a feisty one."
"Give up the gun, and no one gets hurt," the Techie growled, taking another swing.
"All clear," Jill announced. Valkadaidan responded by charging at Ann at full speed. The villain barely dodge the attack, only to get punched by Our Hero. The attack sent her reeling.
"How dare you hit me," she cried out.
"I'm going to do more than that if you don't change me back," DG yelled, landing another hit.
"Wait, please," Ann pleaded, falling to her knees and holding her hands before her face. "Just, stop hitting me."
"Change me back," Our Hero said, ready to throw another punch.
"I can't," she explained. "I don't know how."
"You made it, didn't you," Kiri asked.
Ann shook her head. "It was given to me," she explained. "There was a package in front of my apartment one day. No return address. Just the gun and a note, 'Help other see your side'."
"A package with no return address and you opened it anyway," Jill asked. "That wasn't very bright. What if it was a bomb? Or some sort of poison?
Tears started to form in Ann's eyes. "I was hoping for a bomb." Jill, Deadgal, and Kiri reacted with shock and concern. "You don't understand how unhappy and alone I feel. Ever since I was little, I always felt that I was suppose to be a girl. My father, an abusive drunk, insisted that I was a boy. Forced me to act like a boy. And when I didn't..." She couldn't even finish the sentence, just broke down into tears.
"That was then. This is now," Deadgal said. "The past hurts, yeah, and it does have some point in shaping who you are, but you can't let it control your future."
"You live in New Tao," Jill said. "There are thousands of people just like you that can help you through this."
Kiri knelled down and hugged Drogyne. "It's okay. I know what it's like to feel alone. But this, this gun, won't change anything."
"In fact, it will only make it worse," DG said. "Not only for you, but for everyone like you."
Ann Drogyne looked up at the Heroes and sniffled. "Do you hate me?"
"No. No no no," Jill, Deadgal, and Kiri all said.
"You just need people to talk to," Kiri suggested. "People like you that know what you've been through and can be supportive. You know, like friends."
"Can we be friends," Ann asked.
"As soon as you hand over that gun," Our Hero said, holding her hand out. Ann looked up at him reluctantly, then handed the Gender Blender over. It started to beep. "It's beeping. Why is it beeping? Beeping sounds like a..." She tried to let the gun go, but something in the handle pierced through her hand and kept it in place "timer. Everyone, out. Now."
The rest of the Professional Hero ran out of the nightclub with Ann Drogyne as Deadgal held the gun out at arm's length. The beeping quickened. She closed her eyes. The beeping stopped. There was nothing but silence. "Well, that was a little-" her comment was cut short as the gun exploded, causing the building to catch fire. Her body was burnt badly. It took a few moments for her to heal. Just enough time for Valkadaidan to charge into the burning nightclub and drag her out. She finished healing, but was still a woman. Our Hero looked down at her naked, newly regrown skin and sigh deeply.
Deadgal sat on her desk, wearing some of the clothes she had bought earlier. Jill and Kiri were trying their best to comfort her. "It's going to be okay DeeGee," Kiri said, rubbing Our Hero's back.
"Mmm," DG replied.
"I'll look to see if any reconstructive surgeries are in our insurance plan," Jill offered.
"Mmm," she said again.
"Is there anything we can do to cheer you up," the Techie asked.
"Chocolate," she answered. "and nachos."
"Valk, go next door and get some chocolate," Jill ordered.
"I'll go," she said, jumping off her desk. "I just need a few moments to myself." Our Hero started for the door when an explosion knocked her off her feet. The blast caused the others to dive for cover. Deadgal was on her feet just in time to see a familiar man in a gray three-piece suit standing in the flames. Next to him was the same black-haired woman that stabbed her in the chest a few months back, wearing the same velvet gown as before. Fire climbed the walls and started to roll across the ceiling.
"Hello Heroes," the man said, standing unscathed in the middle of the fire. "It's so nice to finally meet face to face."
TO BE CONTINUED
Deadgirl Page 5