Ms. Infinity (Book 1): Earth's Greatest Hero

by Kirschner, Andrew

  Misery took an indirect route and attempted to surprise Ms. Infinity from behind. Before Misery struck, Ms. Infinity turned and saw her, but it was too late. Misery managed to get one powerful kick, which sent her reeling. But Ms. Infinity quickly rebounded. Faster than Misery could react, she was snared in Ms. Infinity’s arms, struggling to move her own limbs.

  With one arm holding her arms and one around her neck, Misery was trapped. Ms. Infinity’s grip was tremendously powerful, and she was nearly helpless against it. She struggled. She squirmed, trying to get free. She was close to panic. Then in her desperation, she tried a cruel move. She began to transform. As Ms. Infinity squeezed tighter, it seemed she would strangle her. Then suddenly, the arm holding Misery’s arm was struck by several sharp spikes from within. She gasped as her grip was lost in a bloody mess.

  At the sudden reappearance of Ms. Infinity, Hal let out a sigh of relief. He filmed the continuing struggle, watching it turn this way and that. He was also thrilled to see that it was indeed shaping up to be an exciting spectacle. This video had action, suspense, and fireworks. His career might have the boost it needed.

  As he watched this stage of the battle, he thought for sure that Ms. Infinity was about to win. She had just grabbed Misery, and it seemed as if the villain was at her mercy. Then he noticed his hero suddenly loosen her grip on her enemy, almost as if she had just been bitten. He noticed Ms. Infinity looked like she was flinching. Which way was the battle going?

  Then he saw something that shocked him. Ms. Infinity started to change!

  As Ms. Infinity jerked back from the wound from Misery, she shrieked in pain. Were it not space, it would have been a mighty sound. Before she had time to retaliate, she saw her enemy upon her, now more menacing than ever before. She felt a fear such as she had not felt in many years. But a moment later, fear turned to anger. And in her anger, she began to change.

  At first, her transformation was like the classic horror movies—red eyes, claws appearing out of her hands, her teeth turning into fangs. But then as her body began to shift, she began changing into something much bigger, more powerful, and far more frightening than a werewolf. She grew immensely. Tentacles grew out of everywhere, each one branching out, with spikes—or teeth—appearing along the edges. Her head changed into something resembling that of a dragon, but shrouded in darkness, and now with many eyes. After another minute, she was ten times human size, if not more.

  Meanwhile, Misery’s face became a fierce, fangled mask of vengeance. Claws shot out from her bloody hands. Her eyes glazed with a fire, a small but powerful beast determined to put an end to the goliath before her.

  The transformed Ms. Infinity attacked Misery. First she pounced at her with her tremendous bulk. Then she grabbed her in her gigantic, sharp claws. Finally she groped and pierced her with each of her many sharp tentacles. The villain looked like an insect trapped insect in a giant Venus flytrap. A moment later, her enormous head came into view, a mammoth, demonic visage with dozens of cruel eyes, and a huge mouth crowned with many, many razor-sharp teeth. There could be no mistaking the picture. She was about to devour her prey. There seemed no possible escape.

  But Misery had not spent one second of the attack in idleness. She had quietly drawn out a sword, a small, elegant and deeply sophisticated weapon from Center’s military. It was light to hold, and very easy to conceal, being very slight in width and depth and retractable at its bearer’s will. Yet it was extraordinarily sharp at the tip. Furthermore, with the intelligence of fighter from Center, it could strike in many dimensions at once.

  By the time the creature’s head reached her, she had pierced her numerous times, matching the strikes of her tentacles ten to one. Her enemy hurt and weakened, yet unaware of the wounds in remote places, Misery was ready for her crucial attack. As the mouth approached her, she flew suddenly under her chin and pierced her deeply. The beast froze in shock, then quivered, her many tentacles now finally feeling the pain from Misery’s strikes. When Misery pulled the weapon out, she was bleeding hard all over.

  A moment later, the beast rebounded, but she did not dare risk another attempt at devouring her prey. She used a tentacle to knock Misery into a tailspin. She went flying much farther and faster than before. Yet once again she used the device from her pack and rebounded. And powerful though that move was, there was no mistaking the meaning. Ms. Infinity was trying to knock her away now, not devour her. She was now on the defensive.

  Misery flew back at the transformed Ms. Infinity at a tremendous speed. She drew her weapon out, now making sure it was plainly visible, and as frightening as possible. She was also certain to show her own claws, and the fangs in her mouth. Then she took out one more cruel weapon, a small but heavy mace. She threw it at her with awesome precision, hitting hard against several of her eyes. The monster was thrown back in pain. Misery approached, looking very much like she was about to prevail.

  Shape shifting was a power that was rather central to Bonnie’s arsenal. Indeed it was essential to her whole secret identity. It was also another thing that her bloodline did much better than the rest of the people of Center. While other people could shift, in most cases it was little more than enough to distort their faces and bodies. This was a look that the military class employed sometimes to look “threatening.” Misery was much better at it than most, though she knew better than to be open about her superior skills among so many men.

  For her part, Bonnie could transform herself completely into an altogether different being. In her youth, she used it often to hide from her enemies. She also refused to hold back her skills, even when people around her objected. Like the rest of Bonnie’s superior abilities, it was a double-edged sword, both the apparent cause of her pain and the means to her survival.

  She continued to develop the skill once on Earth. A desire to change might have become habit by now, perhaps a leftover “fight or flight” response. But then she also thought it was cool. She almost seemed to make a hobby out of it. Forms of all kinds fascinated her, including many she had seen in comic books and movies. She liked to try any and all of them out when she had time alone. Bonnie would change into anything from werewolves to panthers to original monstrous creations of her own. She also liked changing into humanoid “aliens” of the movies, relishing the irony as one who was an alien who naturally looked human. She liked to think herself edgy, but in time she came to admit there was something terribly geeky about it.

  By contrast, Betty almost never seemed to use this power at all, at least around Bonnie. But then if there was one thing Bonnie knew about her mother, it was that there were always more secrets that she feared delving into. Betty did joke that the power might come in handy for Halloween, but that would certainly have been out of character. Betty Boring’s Halloween “transformation,” such as it was, consisted of putting on a pair of plastic mouse ears and drawing a few whiskers on her face with an eyeliner pencil. After all, she only wanted to fawn over the children in their cute costumes when they came trick-or-treating. Of course, she also secretly protected them from danger.

  At any rate, using shape shifting as a disguise or a hobby was one thing. Using a strange body in battle was proving to be quite another. She had to get used to a newly formed body, with a great deal of extra weight and bulk. This creature was a behemoth that was proving very hard to control. And much as she hated to admit it, Misery had found her weak point, defeating what was much the purpose of the strategy.

  Ms. Infinity flinched as Misery drew nearer, desperately trying to find a hidden strength in herself. But then she noticed her enemy’s eyes, lighting up as if on fire. She remembered a power she had not yet thought of using. It was tricky in space; she had to create a small atmosphere to light it on fire. But it could work.

  Misery pounced, and dug her claws straight into her neck. The pain was almost unbearable. Yet Ms. Infinity held firm and concentrated. She had another surprise of her own in return. Quietly blowing air out, she struggled to create an atm
osphere around the two of them. Her size in this form was now an advantage. It would take time to create the field, but it would certainly not be hard to envelope her enemy.

  She tried desperately to ignore the pain, and the blood that was beginning to pour out from the deepening wounds. In a few seconds, the deed was done. Noticing an adequate air mass, she blew a dragon’s burst of fire into Misery’s face.

  Misery jerked back from shock. The fire did not last long, but her grip was instantly broken, and the local air mass was mostly intact.

  Ms. Infinity blew again, this time harder, crueler. For a moment she seemed to char her rival like a great blowtorch. This would surely be the end of the battle. A few more seconds and victory would be hers, and Misery would be no more. She roasted her harder and crueler and hotter with every passing instant. At her peak, she thought her fire to be hotter than a sun. And then it burned out.

  To her great dismay, Misery was not dead. She was horribly burned, but not only alive but still very much able to fight, and madder than ever. And now the air mass was spent. There was only one thing left to do. Ms. Infinity turned and flew away, apparently out of fear.

  This fight was proving even harder than Misery had expected. She had hoped that her sheer cruelty and determination were enough against her enemy’s powers. There were signs that it might be working, but she was also exhausted.

  As much as she hated to admit it, she was out of her element. Open battles like this had never been her strong suit. She was much better at ruining people through their reputations. She was extremely clever at manipulating people into believing what she wanted about an enemy. A favorite trick of hers was bullying a person on the pretext of helping someone else. If you seemed to be “sticking up” for someone who others could feel sympathy for, you could turn opinions against anyone you wanted. On some level, she now found herself instinctively trying a variation of that gambit; effectively she had tricked her opponent into becoming an unpleasant character, making herself seem like the underdog. But of course, this game was worthless in this theater. Here she was alone with her enemy, with nobody to perform for. Bland Beauty already hated her. There was nothing to do but fight openly, and take the hits when they came.

  But now, after taking hit after hit, suddenly her enemy was flying away. Could this be a sign that victory was near? Or was she going somewhere to rearm? Either way, she was not going to let her get away.

  She flew after her enemy with brutal determination. She knew she was not her match in speed, but she also knew that her enemy could not run forever. If this battle was proving anything, it was that even Bland Beauty had her limits. It seemed that her brutal persistence was finally paying off.

  Several times it seemed that she was losing her, but then she began to catch up. She was working on the assumption that her enemy was slowing down out of weariness. She did not give sufficient consideration to a second possibility, that catching up was exactly what she wanted her to do. For just as Bland Beauty was almost within her grasp, she suddenly vanished into what seemed like an invisible pocket. She had only the last instant to consider the possibility of a trap. Yet by the time she could act, she was already inside Starship Infinity, with the door slamming shut.

  Hal had wondered exactly what Ms. Infinity had meant when she said she might “get nasty.” He figured she might fight mercilessly, but he had not imagined anything like this. He also knew she could change her form, but somehow he had not considered the full consequences. He had to admit that this was pretty cool, thrilling even, but it was also disturbing. He didn’t know what to call this creature. It wasn’t quite a dragon, nor was it a kraken. It wasn’t a hydra either. Whatever it was, it was terrifying. At least she was on his side. But then a very unsettling thought occurred to him. Was this her true form? Was he dating a monster?

  Watching her blow fire into Misery was one truly amazing spectacle. Whatever she was, she certainly was a truly powerful being. Hal was quite sure the battle was nearing its end, and that very soon Ms. Infinity would win. But then she didn’t. He watched her turn back and fly away, and suddenly he was more dismayed than ever. Yet then he saw something that frightened him far more. Both of them were heading right for the ship.

  All of a sudden, he heard a crashing sound. Neither woman was within view. Were they now aboard? He had his answer a split second later. Suddenly he nearly fell out of his seat when he was startled by a loud noise outside the door.

  Now back in her usual form, Ms. Infinity looked at her trapped prey. She was about to circle her and bind her.

  But Misery was not giving up. If she could not escape, she would still not be captured. In a flash, she flew into the corners of the ship. Ms. Infinity followed her. Both disappeared in a rush of super speed.

  Hal had peered outside the door just long enough to see it. Misery was on board, with Ms. Infinity chasing her. He saw them for a split second before both of them flew away.

  He tried not to be terrified of the new development. He knew very little about Misery, but he did know that she was an alien like Ms. Infinity, and that she was evil. That was enough. He only hoped Ms. Infinity knew what she was doing.

  He closed the door and listened outside. He mostly heard nothing, but periodically he heard the sound of both women flying by very fast, rather like cars speeding by. He tried to think of what he could do to help. No idea came, other than waiting it out.

  Misery had spent most of this time flying frantically away from Bland Beauty. But then out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something else going on. She only had a quick glance, but with her superhuman senses, it was enough. The battle was being filmed.

  She tried to fly into the TV studio to put a stop to it, but Ms. Infinity stopped her with a powerful blow. By the time Misery rebounded, she was blocking the door. So Misery began ramming into the walls.

  After several times, Ms. Infinity gave her swift kick, and she fell far across the main hall into a dark hallway. Now Misery was exactly where she wanted her.

  There were no two ways about it. Hal was scared. This seemed like a new definition of “in over his head;” he was the sole human on an alien spaceship, many light years from Earth, in the middle of a superhuman battle. He tried to tell himself that somehow this would be alright. After all he was with Earth’s Greatest Hero. She would never lead him wrong. He had already been through things he could not understand, and she had steered him through it just fine. This would be okay too, even if he could not understand how.

  Suddenly the floor began to shake. Judging from the sounds outside, it seemed like the battle was now right outside the door. A moment later, he was sure of it; the walls had begun to quake from impact. Then suddenly it dawned on him that he was in the company of heavy equipment that could be very dangerous if it came loose.

  Unfortunately for him, this revelation came too late. Suddenly the floor began to shake and several items collapsed. A second later he was face to face with the approach of an unknown piece of equipment. He felt a powerful blow to the head, and then nothing.

  In the depths of Starship Infinity, Misery suddenly found herself trapped. All around her were nothing but walls, except in one far corner where unbreakable bars suddenly slammed shut. Behind them was Ms. Infinity. In their native language, the heroine communicated that she was now her prisoner, forever if necessary. Completely forgotten upstairs in the TV studio was Hal Holstein, sprawled out unconscious amidst the wreckage.

  13. Management Style

  As Misery was locked in Ms. Infinity’s prison, and Hal lay unconscious elsewhere on Starship Infinity, many light years away, things were continuing on as always at The Big Box. Lisa Lin was carrying on her routine at the customer service counter. Julia was supposed to accompany her, but she was late. Once again Lisa endured a long period handling the customer service desk alone.

  For now, there was relative calm, and Lisa hoped for at least a few minutes of peace. Yet this hope was dashed when Denny showed up. He seemed quieter than usua
l, ominously quiet. He moved aggressively into the customer service area, and crept up very close to Lisa.

  “Lisa honey,” he said, “Why don’t you take a break? I got this.”

  Lisa looked up at Denny suspiciously. “Little early, isn’t it?”

  “Go!” he said abruptly.

  Lisa rolled her eyes and shook her head. She started toward the register to sign out, but Denny was posturing aggressively, blocking her way.

  “Excuse me,” she said, “I haven’t signed out.”

  “Don’t worry about that, little girl. Just go!”

  “Hold on,” said Maria, “This is really not a good time for her break. It’s going to get busy here any minute. Besides, Julia’s not…”

  “She has to go!” snapped Denny.

  “Oh, does she?” retorted Maria, “because last I heard, I’m still the runner, and her immediate supervisor.”

  Denny looked like he was about to scream at her, but suddenly he stopped. It may have had to do with the approach of a couple of men in suits, likely visitors from the company. He walked away, but he was visibly angry.

  Business soon began to pick up again. As the line grew, frustration among customers grew with it. Being served by only one person did not help. One woman came to her with an uneven exchange. Unfortunately the sweater she wanted had no price tag.

  “Miss,” said Lisa calmly, “Do you think you can do me a favor, and find another one with a tag?”