These are the next six pages of Virtual Star Embryology: Part One, "Warrior of a Fallen Kindom". This features the return of all five Shadow Girls, who now get their own TV show, SKU News on Channel Seven! May contain mature content and partial nudity and might be a little melodramatic. (Editor's Note: The reference to the Guy in the Third Row is from an old Pokry Pig cartoon. The main villain kept threatening that the Guy in the Third Row better not try anything, and at the end he gets stopped when the Guy throws a chair at him)
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A Few Hours Later

<Inside a darkened studio. The lights suddenly flash on to reveal an elaborately decorated news room. We hear equipment being turned on, people running around and getting ready. All of them are teenage girls with obscured faces. Behind the news desk are five girls. One has two short pigtails that stick up. The second has her hair tied back. The third wears her hair in a ponytail. The fourth has her hair done up in what appears to be a TV antennae, and the fifth has lightning bolts sticking out of her hair. The camera-girl begins to signal them as they are about to go on air. Three, two, one…>

A-Ko:
Hi all of you out there in TV Land! It’s your five favorite girls, A-Ko!

B-Ko:
B-Ko!

C-Ko:
C-Ko!

E-Ko:
E-Ko!

F-Ko:
And F-Ko!

E-Ko:
Here at Channel Seven!

F-Ko:
Bringing you…

Together:
The Eight O’clock News!

A-Ko:
We thought we were out of work when the Big Bosses canceled us. Luckily…

B-Ko:
We were picked up at another station, here at SKU News, telling you, that’s right, you, about everything going on in the world.

C-Ko:
And not just news. We’ve got…

F-Ko (holding an umbrella in a rainstorm):
Weather…

E-Ko (in a director’s chair):
Movies…

A-Ko (To B-Ko‘s ear):
Gossip…

B-Ko (In a fine dress):
Culture…

C-Ko (In a monkey cage):
And monkeys!

<The other four stare at C-Ko, whose just jumped up on the news desk with her arms spread out wide>

Pause

A-Ko:
You’ve got problems.

<C-Ko falls off the desk and on her butt>

B-Ko:
Way to state the obvious.

E-Ko:
Anyway, for our first story, a local eating establishment in downtown Metropolis, Planet Krypton, burned to the ground when a metahuman fight that started up near the Daily Planet progressed further down the city. The seven metahumans in question, Nightstar, Trix, Manotaur, and the Creature Commandos continued their battle down to the Metropolis Harbor, where the Creature Commandos were then apprehended by a S.W.A.T. team, but the other three had already left the scene. Unfortunately, the number of casualties for today’s fight was a startling 34.

<The number 34 pops up on a screen behind E-Ko, BIG and bold>

F-Ko:
Earlier in the day, we sent one of our reporters live on the scene of the burning wreckage, to interview those who actually managed to get out in time.

<Picks up a videotape and pops it into a VCR, then turns it on>

F-Ko:
Here, we, go!

<The screen turns to static, then displays the still smoking wreckage of what was once Planet Krypton. There are paramedics tending to the wounded, firefighters spraying whatever burning wreckage is left, then chopping it up with axes. The police are getting statements from passersby, and C-Ko is standing in the center of the screen with a microphone, her face covered with a swirling rose symbol>

C-Ko (Footage):
I’m here live at what was once Planet Krypton, the second in a just-starting chain of dining establishments in Metropolis, run by former Justice Leaguer Michael Carter, a.k.a. Booster Gold.

(Writer’s Note: Yes, there were two Planet Kryptons. That’s for all those out there who've read Kingdom Come and want to nitpick. You know who you are. Especially that Guy in the Third Row!)

A-Ko:
You know, I once heard a rumor that he used to be married to this rich old lady who’d make him dress up like Wonder Woman! *tee hee*!

E-Ko:
Shh!

C-Ko (Footage):
As you can see behind me, this burning heap is all that is left from a vicious and unforeseen rampage brought on by the seven metahumans.

Police Officer (Footage):
Hey, whose that girl?

Paramedic (Footage):
And what the hell happened to her face?

<C-Ko turns to the paramedic and the officer, who look as if they’re about to throw up after looking at her face, still obscured by the rose symbol>

C-Ko (Footage):
Excuse me, Mr. Police Man, but can you tell our audience out there how bad the damage is?

Police Officer (Face a ghastly green) (Footage):
It’s, uh, well, it’s hard to say. We’ve discovered the bodies of most of the people who were in the diner at the time. From what we’ve been told, most of the staff was out sick today with the, the flu, so we could only find the bodies of some of the staff, including one Shana Cavanaugh, age 23, and Tony Rodriquez, age 28. So far we’re still checking for the bodies of anyone <forces back his gag reflex> else.

C-Ko (Footage):
Are you okay?

Police Officer (Footage):
Yeah, I’m fine.

C-Ko (Footage):
So how many managed to get out in time before the gas lines ignited?

Police Officer (Footage):
A couple of families, a high school girl, a young child, and an employee. We’re currently trying to find the child’s parents, but judging from how quickly the place ignited chances are slim.

<The paramedic in the footage bends over a what used to be a model Batplane and throws up>

A-Ko:
How awful!

F-Ko:
How could something like this happen?

E-Ko:
That’s what happens when you let people with too much power run wild like that.

B-Ko:
We now show you footage of our interviews with the survivors of the incident.

<The screen shows a man holding his wife, who is obviously in shock, and their two children hiding behind his legs and crying loudly>

C-Ko (Footage):
Sir, can you give us your opinion about what just happened here?

Man (Footage):
I’ve lived in Metropolis all my life, and when I was a kid we had real heroes who stopped stuff like this from happening. And now we’ve got these super powered maniacs running around, and no one does anything to stop them. Look at my family. For ten years we’ve been afraid to leave our homes during the day because something like this could happen. My kids have been home schooled all their lives and my wife spends all her time at home. This was the first time we ever went to eat together and look what happens!

<Next, C-Ko interviews a mother, who is with her teenaged son, dressed in punk clothing, and a baby in a harness on her chest>

Mother (Footage):
Think of the children!

C-Ko (Footage):
Yes. What about the children?

<C-Ko points her microphone into the teenager’s face>

C-Ko (Footage):
Young man, what would YOU like to tell the world about this awful tragedy?

Punk Teenager (Footage):
…eh.

C-Ko (Footage):
Obviously the trauma of what has just happened as left this boy unable to feel anything!

<The mother starts to sob loudly and the teenager rolls his eyes. Next up is Ebony, who has some cuts on her face and is still wearing the ripped Shade jacket, and is looking very pissed>

C-Ko Footage:
What is your opinion on this awful acci-

Ebony Footage:
Get that *BLEEP* camera out of my face!

A-Ko:
Huh? What’d she say?

C-Ko:
I don’t know, I couldn’t hear her over the bleep.

<C-Ko then turns her microphone over to the high school girl, who is completely unharmed>

C-Ko Footage:
And finally, what is your opinion on what has occurred, miss?

High School Girl Footage:
Oh I’m just glad that some people were able to get out of there at all.

C-Ko Footage:
Hey, don’t I-

<The screen becomes static>

E-Ko:
Was that all you were able to record?

C-Ko:
Yes, unfortunately I couldn’t find any blank tapes, so I borrowed B-Ko’s! You know, the one she keeps in her room by her computer. But there wasn’t that much film.

B-Ko:
You used that tape?! I was making that video for my acting resume!

A-Ko:
Well you can’t blame her, you never label your things.

B-Ko:
So? Just because a video tape looks blank, that doesn’t mean it is.

Ebony:
It’s true what they say. The camera really does add on ten pounds.

<We are now inside Ebony’s apartment. She is watching SKU News from her living room on a black leather couch. She’s changed out of her work clothes, and is now wearing black tights and a long t-shirt which reads “Polly Polly Tinker Boy”. Her small cuts have anti-infection balm smoothed over them, and her hair has been brushed. The apartment is small, with only a living room/kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. On her coffee table in front of the couch there is a vase of black orchids, which seem to be wilting, along with a phone and answering machine. There is a bookcase lined with the works of William Shakespeare and some movies. Spread on the coffee table is an open copy of Hamlet, a DVD of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and some job-ads cut out of newspapers. The kitchen contains an oven, a refrigerator, a white sink, some cupboards, and a dishwasher. The bedroom merely has a bed with red covers and two pillows, and a wooden drawer which contains her cloths, and a locked closet. The bathroom only has a toilet, a bathtub, and a medicine cabinet with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a first-aid kit, and bandages>

(The world really is an awful place. How did mankind get to this point, I keep asking myself? You’d probably want to know, anyway, so I’ll tell you. This happened before I was born, but the world used to have real superheroes. Not just ones with power. People with amazing skills who wanted to help mankind from bizarre men and women who wanted to destroy it. And the greatest out of all of them was Superman. He used to live here in Metropolis. He could run faster then a speeding bullet, or jump over a building in a single bound. He was amazing. Everyone looked up to him. And then it happened. One day, around the time I was still a little girl, a mass murdering clown who called himself the Joker killed ninety three people in the Daily Planet. Ninety two men and only one woman. Take a guess who. Go on. The police apprehended him, but that was when a new “hero” who called himself Magog did what Superman, or any other sane person, would never do. He blew a hole right through the Joker’s heart. People used to say they were surprised the Joker even had a heart. At his trial, Superman gave a passionate, and might I say well executed speech on how it is wrong to take a life. But Magog was acquitted, and in a public survey, he was voted the new Man of Tomorrow. Superman, in shame, retreated from the public, and Magog took his place as personal savior to the public. Smart move. Since then, every superhe-no, I can’t use that term to describe what these people are, if they can be called people. They followed Magog’s example of ultra brutality and have dedicated themselves to that cause. They don’t care about the public’s safety. Every day they cause more and more damage in their battles. Wives become widows. Children become orphans. Just like that little girl today. They never did find her parents. At least I could get her out, but I should‘ve done more. And now Shana and Tony and countless others are dead. What an awful, awful world)

<The clock on her wall begins to chime. Nine O’clock. Nine O’clock. Nine O’clock>

(Is it Nine already?)

Ebony:
Well, time to go to work.

(It really is an awful world. But I do my part to try and help it)

<Ebony gets up off her couch and stretches for a minute. She then turns the TV off and heads into her bedroom. She stands in front of the locked closet door, then slams her fist onto a part of the wall that comes loose and falls onto the floor. A secret compartment. She takes out a little silver key and slips it into the lock. She opens the door, then turns on a light. Inside there is a black suit and gloves on a rack and a mouth-less black mask with two eyeholes cut out. Below them are a pair of lace-up boots that are worn and old. On the wall in front of them is a mirror that covers the entire wall. The only other thing in the room is a picture frame, hanging on the bare, wooden wall. The picture contains Ebony, fifteen, and beside her is a beautiful woman with lavender skin, lavender hair, and lavender eyes. The two are smiling and holding one another in a sunlit embrace>

(Everyone has their secrets. This is mine)

<She walks up to the mirror, her eyes staring straight ahead at her own reflection, her eyes piercing back at her. She then slowly undresses herself. She removes the shirt and the tights, until only her bra and her underwear remain. Her body is perfect for that of a seventeen year-old. All except for one thing. The jagged, X-shaped scar that runs across her stomach. She places her right hand on her stomach, on the scar, and she remembers>

Ebony:
Suzy.

(I hope you don’t hate me, wherever you are, for what I do Suzy. But even if you do hate me, fine. I still love you. I always will love you. I love you for giving me a second chance. And I won’t stop until I know that this world is fixed)

<She begins to suit up>

(This is all I keep here. My suit. My mirror. And my picture)

<She fits her legs into the pants>

(I ask myself if what I do makes me a hypocrite)

<Next she fits into the sleeves>

(I can act just as bad as they can)

<Buttons the collar>

(But I don’t fight for the sake of it)

<Laces up the boots>

(I fight because there are people who do bad things)

<Puts on the gloves>

(Horrible things)

<Puts on the mask>

(And I want them to pay)

<She stares back at her reflection now. Clad in a black suit, she’s ready to head out into the night and act as a personal tool for justice in a world where the word “hero“ disappeared from the dictionary. Her reflection is like that of a black-clad queen. Maybe what she does can stop the pain of what she’s gone through. Maybe it will cause more. Maybe it’ll help her get rid of her masks. But she’ll do what she has to>

(This world needs justice. And I will make sure that it gets the right kind. Or so help me I’ll die trying)

Last edited by XHelios6 (12-09-2007 03:48:40 PM)