Divine Right Chicago: On the Storm's Edge

[Exile_Jeane]

At least the internet was lively that night, her guilty pleasure Stormwatch bubbling with fresh posts and activity.

 

Something had definitely happened to Brigit in that fight, whether her own trigger event or another Stormer doing *something* to her to change her, judging by the gym footage that exploded into thread after thread. Grace hoped that it was Brigit's own trigger event and not the other, the simplest and least dangerous option of the two. She permitted her nervousness to surface in the solitude of her apartment, drumming the fingers of her free hand on her chair, the other flicking and clicking through a meandering series of sites and videos that increasingly failed to keep her focus as the hours passed from pm into the very early am, the doldrums of the day.

 

She really needed to make more friends in different time zones. Friends in particular, *not* fans or polite rivals. She had plenty of those last two.

 

The blonde Stormer exhaled at the realization. Great. Perhaps she should have finished her term in the Peace Corps despite what her parents had said, stayed over in Benin rebuilding cities destroyed by Echidna. Wouldn't have wasted five months wallowing in her own numbness and actually done something. Anything. Great. Here she was, capable of lifting a large truck over her head without feeling strain and 'tanking hits' that'd pulp virtually anyone else, and she was having the same old circular arguments with herself. She really should just start doing her midnight jogs in the city's less upscale parks. And... whatever happened after that would happen. Be more constructive anyway.

 

Constructive... Oh, shit. Sean. 

 

Grace looked at the time, frowning as she saw the 6:00 flashing there, reprimanding herself for forgetting to check if he was okay in the chaos of the boxing match. She had been taught better than that. Knew better than that. No excuse. At least it was late enough on a weekend morning that she could make up for her lapse now... 'This is Grace. Were you at the fight last night? Hope you're okay,' she texted into the void, a frown on her face.

 

She got a reply faster than she thought she would, 'I was! I saw you there!   You looked great. It was overwhelming. Don't know exactly all that happened. Got a terrible migraine. Somehow made it to my hotel. But I'm doing MUCH better.  Still some issues though.  '

 

What. That wasn't the tone she expected from the Canadian architect. Now worry added itself to the background noise of her head, fingers flickering back over her screen to reply, 'Thank you. If you're feeling off, don't hesitate to get checked out. 95% sure a Stormer erupted last night, and there's no telling what powers she might have gotten and used.'

 

Trigger events, eruptions, transformations, whatever you choose to call the rebirth of a Stormer couldn't really be predicted or categorized. If there was a lingering after effect to Brigit's powers she might have used without knowing... The musical ding of another reply only made the background of worry worse as her grey eyes skimmed over the words, 'You don't say. I'm pretty sure more there's more than just one new Stormer in Chicago. I feel like a whole new man. Feeling a little off still, but it's going away. But if you're concerned, you could come check on me.  '

 

That tore it. Something was off. Grace's fingers were shooting out a quick question for where Sean was staying even as she mentally tallied out the time she needed to clean up, what breakfast places might be open at this hour, local parking for her car...

[Asarasa]

Sean heard her phone chirp as she combed her lengthy mane of hair after her very pleasant shower - though it seemed to need very little care -  surprised to get a text so early. She slipped on the plush robe as she sauntered out of the bathroom, her phone flying to her hand with an effortless exertion of will.

<This is Grace. Were you at the fight last night? Hope you're okay.>

 

She smirked as she read the text, and typed back a reply, a bit slowly as she adjusted to having nails that extended noticeably beyond the tips of her fingers. I should probably trimmed these things down.

<I was! I saw you there!  You looked great.  It was overwhelming. Don't know exactly all that happened. Got a terrible migraine. Somehow made it to my hotel. But I'm doing MUCH better.  Still some issues though.>

<Thank you. If you're feeling off, don't hesitate to get checked out. 95% sure a Stormer erupted last night, and there's no telling what powers she might have gotten and used.>

Sean giggled to herself, luminous lavender eyes brightening for a moment, a surge of certainty flowing through her. She was sure she was a Stormer, and was just as sure she wasn't the only one who had erupted last night. She had met the eyes of Brigit Moran last night and there had been something, a definite charge, between them.

<You don't say. I'm pretty sure more there's more than just one new Stormer in Chicago. I feel like a whole new man. Feeling a little off still, but it's going away. But if you're concerned, you could come check on me.>

She would never have been so forward just half a day ago. But as soon at the thought flowed from her head, through her fingers to her phone, Sean couldn't help but be almost giddy at the idea of witnessing Grace's expression when she arrived and found a stunning Stormer woman instead of a mundane man. She squealed in delight when Grace asked for her hotel and gleefully tapped out the name and her room number.

Sean considered ordering a room-service breakfast, but wanted the first person to see the new her be someone more significant to her than just a random hotel employee. While she waited for Grace, she went through her limited luggage. She'd need something to wear when she went out to buy some new clothes for her fantastic figure. Most of her pants barely fit over her hips and ass and were tight enough she'd have to be careful with her movements so they didn't split, and ended inches above the ankles besides. Even if she wasn't actually taller, her legs were definitely longer.

Her button-down shirts were a complete lost. She managed to squeeze herself into one, and half the buttons didn't survive thirty seconds before they were pinging across the room. She set them aside. Her other shirts sort of fit - very tight across the chest and made it very obvious she wasn't wearing a bra, and loose everywhere else, but they would do well enough to go and get replacements. She couldn't help but notice the material though, finding it more irritating, rough and itchy. She hoped it wasn't too cold today, she couldn't zip her coat all the way, and she needed to stuff another pair of socks inside her shoes so they didn't immediately slip off.

Sean was back in the hotel robe when there was a knock at the door. She caught the scent of coffee and warm bagels wafting in from beyond the door, and under them the scent of a woman. She almost called out instinctively for Grace - she presumed it was Grace - to come in, but stifled it, pressing her full lips together. That would give the surprise away.

Smirking to herself, Sean shifted so she couldn't be seen immediately from the doorway and then took a seat in mid air. With rapidly growing precision and control, she curved the local fabric of spacetime, wave-particles of gravity turning the deadbolt, pressing down on the handle, and letting the door swing open.

Grace pursed her lips as the door swung silently open and glanced at her phone again. This was the right room.  She stepped inside and walked down the short hall, past the bathroom, then came to a sudden stop, her mouth dropping open in shock.

Sitting in mid air, long legs crossed at the knee and swiveling from side to side as though she sat in an invisible chair was a young woman, though calling her a woman was like calling the sun a mere light. The woman was a panoply of pulchritudinous parts that blending seamlessly into a symphony of superlative gorgeousness. She stood up, feet lightly touching the ground, glistening waves of rich rose-gold hair tumbling to her hips. She was tall, her plush white robe falling short of mid-thigh, the sash encircling a minuscule waist, and gaped at the front, revealing the inner slopes of the most spectacular breasts Grace had ever seen.

The woman was young, perhaps no more than a recent high school grad or a college freshman. But her lavender eyes, subtly incandescent with their own light belonged to someone older. A playfully amused smile teased her inviting lips and Grace began feeling embarrassed, sure she had the wrong room.

"Oh, right. I guess I should have said, rather than feeling like a new man, I should have said, 'Man, I feel like a woman.' It's me, Sean, with a Stormer makeover. Surpise!"

At the look on Grace's face, Sean exploded into peals of silvery laughter, tears almost coming to her eyes. "Oh my fucking god, the look on your face! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it, Grace," Sean gasped through her giggles. The tray holding a pair of coffees and the bag of bagels fell from Grace's hand, but gravity seemed to overlook them before they had fallen more than two inches. They slid through the air to land on a side table, then the door closed behind Grace. "Totally worth it." She dug through the bag of bagels, arching a brow at Grace as she asked with feigned nonchalance, "You mind if I have the raisin-cinnamon bagel? Haven't gone out to grab any eats yet. I might need a bit of help with that and some other things."

Sean's eyes lingered lustily on Grace, lips curving in unabashed appreciation for her admirable symmetry. The simmering arousal that hadn't left her since she awoke peaked as Grace's natural scent taunted her nose. She took a sip of coffee - she didn't normally drink coffee - and the taste exploded across her tongue, stronger and with more depth than anything she had tasted before. Unconsciously, a small, sensual moan escaped her lips.

"Wow. I don't remember coffee ever tasting this good."

Edited November 4, 2020 by Asarasa

[Nina]

The wee hours of the morning…

 

Karen Gayle, female sports promoter, former MMA star, and a fitness model sat down her young client, Brigit, who was changed into something neither of them could understand, down. She explained to Brigit why she needed to keep a low profile, why she needed someone to look out for her. That the media and the government and who knew who else would try to exploit her. She closed out by telling the newly empowered woman that if she did not want her, Karen, to look out for her interests now that she would understand and try to find someone Brigit trusted more.

 

Brigit had listened as attentively as she could, but something was off, distracting her, and she couldn’t put her fingers on it. It was like a buzzing in your ear, or a smell you couldn’t identify. The whole time Karen was talking that feeling came and went just faintly like something on the edge of your vision.

 

“Brigit?”

 

Brigit shook her head, “No, Karen no, you’re my promoter and I still want you. I don’t know what all of this means or what I’m supposed to do with this…power. I can’t box now, but I need to do something.”

 

They talked a little more and Brigit made some decisions and Karen made some phone calls waking people up. By the time the cloudy sky was brightening they had moved into another set of rooms even more lavish than the ones before. A courier arrived at the same time room service delivered breakfast. She brought  a bunch of papers for Birigt and Karen that would make Karen Brigit’s personal and business manager and giving Karen the ability to act in Brigit’s behalf on pretty much anything. Karen had called her office and they had sent a notary and she had the courier wait while they went over the papers and while they signed them. 

 

After signing the papers, Brigit, who had been having that feeling off and on all morning, turned to her new personal manager, “Karen I know we have a lot more to do but I need to get out for a little bit. I have been cooped up for too long and need to burn some of this new energy.”

 

Karen warned her about keeping a low profile and dressing down with the track suit and wearing her hair up and maybe getting some glasses or a scarf… she stop when she saw the look on Brigit’s face. “Just be carful Brigit and call if you need me.”

 

Brigit changed into the track suit and did her hair up in a braided bun which changed her look a bit, but even without makeup, her perfect symmetry and fresh beauty was hard to miss.

 

After she left the rooms, she concentrated on that nagging feeling and it literally pinged in her head like radar. She recognized it now. She had felt it at the gym early this morning when she had seen the other empowered girl, but hadn’t realized it, and now she felt the same sensation or one very much like it. She closed her eyes and with a push that wasn’t physical but was still taxing, the fire which had faded to a faint smolder fanned into silver flame.

 

It was weird to say the least, with her eyes closed she could  ‘see’ her surroundings, not like if she were looking with eyes open but like some pseudo-afterimage of the walls, and doorways and the small table with flowers, the fire extinguisher hat the end of the hall. Just like with her super-vision she could not see through those walls but still there was something beyond her sight, that feeling… she concentrated and did that same inside push and the flame flared again.

 

Everything else faded and two bright beacons appeared blow her. She knew right away that they were stormers, what else could they be. She opened her eyes and the psudo image returned superimposed over what her real vision saw. Strangely, it was not disorienting at all and her mind simple registered both and went on about its business.

 

Brigit stepped into the elevator and pushed each of the buttons for the  lower floors since she was not sure which the stormers were on. The very next floor the doors opened and a older couple stopped as the were about to enter the car and stared at Brigit. She was holding the door and using her new sense to find the empowered, when she realized that the couple were not entering the car. What she couldn’t see was what they were seeing, the flashes of energy like electrical storms across her icy blue eyes, “We’ll take the next one thanks,” said the man as he tugged his wife way from the door.

 

The next floor bore fruit. Brigit had to push again to find them but there they were, two swirling masses of energy vaguely human shaped. They looked like the people in the old star trek show when they were doing the beam me up scotty thing. She couldn’t make out any details that she understood but there were in that room down the hall on the left.  

[Exile_Jeane]

Of course, the coffee tasted good. Grace wouldn't waste money on bad coffee.

 

She let the self-proclaimed 'Sean' have the bagels, composing herself much as she could in the face of the younger-yet-older woman's sheer charisma. She'd been around pretty girls of good breeding, good money, and good manners her whole life, knew she had more than her share of good looks, but this new Sean... Fucking Hell. If 'she' had murdered and devoured the Canadian architect in search of the world's most ridiculous story, well... Grace didn't feel like putting in the work to start digging. It felt wrong to doubt. Still...

 

Watching the new Stormer devour the bagels, she managed to promise to herself deep below the encroaching fog of pink haze she'd look into it if things started to stink. 

 

"Glad you like it. Trigger events can knock you for a spin and take a while to adjust to. You're doing great though. Good trick with the door when I showed up," she offered with the merest hint of an apologetic smile on her lips, pausing to fish out her phone and bring up her Stormwatch page, "Oh, just in case the news hasn't spoiled it for you yet, I didn't pick it but the internet dubbed me 'Apex' after my trigger event six months ago. Sorry for leaving that out the night we met. Welcome to the Life, Sean. I don't know how much I can help you adapt. But I'll try."

 

She offered her phone to Sean by way of invitation, a much-more disheveled picture of herself hefting a car over her head mid toss in a ruined city heading the tiny screen.

 

 

 

 

 

[Asarasa]

Sean leaned forward to get a better look at the phone, casually brushing a few crumbs from her chest, as she hung her coffee in mid air to instinctively adjust the glasses she wasn't wearing. She smiled wryly at her gaff, then raised her brows in question at Grace. When the sophisticated blonde nodded, the phone was plucked from her hand by an unseen, gentle but inexorable force to float unmoving in front of the improbably curvaceous young woman who claimed to have been a man half a day ago.

Sean reclaimed her coffee and took a sip. Her brows arched even higher, her eyes going from the phone, to Grace and back. It was clearly Grace in the pic, with a car in the process of being thrown. With a single hand. Very hot. Grace felt the pink haze of the woman's presence grow stronger as her lavender eyes gave her another once over, as though looking for evidence of her Stormer-hood and the superhuman strength inside her.

Grace might have looked the same to Sean's eyes, a model-attractive young woman seemingly from wealth. But to her nose, Sean was starting to think she could detect something more to her, something more than human. In the room, she could smell her old self, traces of several of the previous cleaning staff, and her new self, as well as what she believed were pheromones in the air. There was just a hint of... something, a commonality between her and Grace, and it was more than just both of them being female. Can I smell Stormers? Storms have their own distinct scent, might Stormers?

In some of her Stormer play, Sean had managed to lift the queen-sized bed with the heavy headboard, and herself on it. It hadn't been hard. She wondered if she could affect gravity enough to lift a car. Sean definitely intended to find out.

"Well, I'm doubly honoured now, knowing I got to share a meal with a stunning woman and a Stormer. I think I get why you didn't mention being one off the bat, don't worry 'bout it," Sean said in her dulcet and sultry soprano. "And I'll totally take you up on the offer to help. But you're giving me a mite too much credit, I think. I might still be in shock, but I dunno, my change might've come with a bit of mental rewiring, too. Like, stuff is strange, but it doesn't feel unnatural to me. My center of gravity is drastically different, but I haven't had any trouble walking or moving, it just feels like... I've always moved this way. And the telekinetic tricks and stuff? That's as easy as breathing. I might not know all the mechanisms on how it works or what I can do, but it doesn't take more effort than breathing."

To demonstrate, Sean plucked another bagel from the bag. She held it on the palm of her hand, displaying it for Grace. Sean glanced down at it. There was the faintest ephemeral blur, and suddenly, the bagel was neatly bisected. One half lifted off her hand seemingly under its own power. Sean ate the other half, while the floating half was compacted into a tight ball, gravitic pressure acting equally all about it. Sean grinned as the ball of bagel was tossed into the waste basket.

Her grin widened as she fell up in apparent slow motion or as if she was under water, flipping over deftly so her feet alighted lightly on the ceiling. The tall young woman's long rose-gold hair fell towards the ceiling. Her robe didn't slide up her thighs towards the floor. It was somewhat disorienting to Grace - for a moment, she wonder if she was standing on the wrong surface. Sean pirouetted on the ceiling, then reoriented her personal gravity so it aligned with everything else once more, flashing Grace a pearly toothed smile.

"Not telekinetic really, but rather, gravitokinetic I think. Pretty sure I'm manipulating gravity itself, somehow," Sean explained, giving Grace a curtsey as the blonde looked at her anew. "Look, I know I should be freaking out. But, I feel healthier than I've ever had in my life, I'm practically a teenager again, don't need my glasses any more and, oh yeah! I have super powers now." Sean gave Grace an emphatic shrug and took another sip of her coffee. "If all that comes with boobs, needing to sit down to pee, being sexually objectified, and having to shop for clothes in the other department and needing a tailor besides, I'll count it a fair trade."

Grace gave Sean an awkward smile in return and Sean realized that she didn't just completely blew pass the top of the 1-10 scale, but that she had an equal level of inherent charisma, a natural presence as pervasive as the gravity she was able to control. While Grace still found her story unbelievable, it seemed like she couldn't stop herself from being persuaded.

"You don't believe me," Sean murmured, not in an accusatory tone, but just as a statement.

Grace's shoulders shifted. In someone else, it might have been called a squirm. She'd seen a lot since her eruption, but this was still kinda much, even for her. "I want to, it's just..."

"Fair enough, Apex," Sean said with a nod, finishing her coffee. The Styrofoam cup crumpled then flew into the wastebasket. "We met at the Grace Moran pub when we found ourselves escorted to the same table..."

Sean gave Grace an accurate recounting of their shared meal, and Grace had to admit, everyone would have noticed if a woman like the one standing in front of her had been anywhere within several city blocks, let alone close enough to reveal what they had done and said at the pub.

"... and then Tara got me the ticket for her sister's fight after I put my foot in my mouth. Pretty sure she made a killing on the tips we both left her."

 

"Sean?"

"Yup! In brand new flesh," Sean crooned, mirth in her melodious voice as she struck a pose. "Might need some Girl lessons to go along with the Stormer lessons, though. At least, some help with clothes and how to dress."

Edited November 10, 2020 by Asarasa

[Nina]

Brigit was fascinated by the to glowing energy sources that were the two stormers, she could gauge their relative ‘Strength’ by comparing the swirls and concentrations of the different colors of the energy. Instinctively she knew it was all one thing this energy, but she felt that the colors and concentrations meant things such as how the energy was used. Such as the one closest to the door the energy flowed throughout the body and was concentrate in muscles and sinews mostly in the legs and arms and across the back.

 

This caused Brigit to pause then look at herself with her new sense. Her arms and legs possessed similar concentrations to the stormer in the room although she thought that the stormer inside was …buffer, maybe. The second stormer in the room those swirls were harder to read they flowed through her and for some reason Brigit just knew that this stormer was female, while the other gave no indication of sex. But the greatest concentration of the energy was in the women’s center of mass and it was a perfect sphere of radiant energy which sent off tendrils outside the stormers body.

 

She blinked and her vision returned to normal and all she could see now was the hallway and its contents albeit in that strange double exposure her Stormer sense gave her. Brigit noticed that while she had studied the two stormers through the wall she had moved closer to the door. She could no longer ‘see’ them but now she could make out faint voices, but not what they said. Brigit stepped closer and tilted her head and he hear which seemed keener than before could now make out two women’s voices one which literally dripped with seductiveness and it was this one whom spoke words which sent a surge of panic through her.

 

"... and then Tara got me the ticket for her sister's fight after I put my foot in my mouth. Pretty sure she made a killing on the tips we both left her."

"Sean?"

 

"Yup! In brand new flesh," Sean crooned, mirth in her melodious voice as she struck a pose. "Might need some Girl lessons to go along with the Stormer lessons, though. At least, some help with clothes and how to dress."

 

Brigit was tunnel visioned on her sister’s name and everything else was white noise. They were stormers and they knew who her sister was!

 

Without thinking things through Brigit slapped her palm against the door near the bolt which sent it swinging forcefully open and then there she was filling the doorway, her eyes cracking with quantum energy, her fists balled, legs spread, ready to take on the whole world.

 

“What have you done to my sister?”

 

Spoiler

woohoo!

 

[Exile_Jeane]

Grace was moving to put herself between Sean and the new arrival even before she was sure what happening, filled with a familiar, unshakeable reservoir of calm in the face of a physical crisis and the certainty that whatever was about to be dished out she could take it. The blonde Stormer had fought bigger, and as she took in Brigit, her feet shifted, taking up a defensive stance the boxer would recognize as the unpolished product of street level brawling: full of holes but serviceable in a pinch.

 

A night's worth of trawling the internet and the flurry of videos regarding Brigit's exploits at the gym put name to altered face, and there was a determined frown on Grace's face as she wanted to make sure any conflict was aimed her way. Sean might have been able to take a punch better than her, but that wasn't a theory she wanted to bet on if words didn't wouldn't work. Oh Lord. The new Stormers were coming out good looking today.

 

"We haven't done anything to your sister, Brigit," she stated confidently, fighting the urge to look back at Sean to check for any sign of confirmation and break the spell she was trying to weave, "It is Brigit, right? I'm Grace Williams, spoke to your trainer last night. This is Sean. Now who are you talking about? We met a Tara at your family's bar a week ago, that's all. Has something happened to her, Brigit?"

 

She kept her voice low and steady, repeating the woman's name to snap her focus. With any luck, she wouldn't be flying out a window today.  

[Asarasa]

A tingle of warning raced up Sean's spine and she spun around on a heel just as the door to her hotel room burst open, her long, glistening hair flaring behind her like a piece of pure dawn light.  Minute motes of coruscating blue and purple and silver dancing in the depths of her pupils exploded in intensity and number, spiraling out to engulf her irises, then expanding to cover the entirety of her sclera until her whole eyes were incandescent with quantum energy as she instinctively sheathed herself in skintight, invisible particles of protective gravitons.
 

A piece of the shattered deadbolt flew through the air at near bullet speed to strike her in the left breast. Sean barely felt it before the piece of twisted metal struck the floor with more force than Earthly gravity could have imparted. She was surprised at the intrusion to be sure, yet her thoughts were clear, her heartbeat steady, Fight-or-Flight instinct held at bay by an inhuman composure to let her take in the scene.

Still, Grace moved before Sean acted on more than an unconscious level, interposing herself between her and the intruder. The intruder was a woman, no taller than Grace, but much broader, heavy shoulders nearly spanning the doorway, impressive muscles taut and massive, veins running down each arm sticking out like cables; the woman had as exaggerated a figure as Sean's own, if in a considerably different way.

The woman was very pretty too, familiar, and as soon as Grace started speaking, Sean caught her solid, glowing eyes, a connection crackling between them and realized where she'd seen that face before, though the face was idealized, as though photoshopped free of any blemish or irregularity. Brigit Moran... with about eighty extra pounds of pure muscle... Hawt. 

She planted a fist on a cocked hip and inhaled deeply, her plush robe gaping even wider so it barely preserved any modesty. Brigit's scent filled her nose as did the pungent spice of her fury. Sean's heart began to beat faster and it had little to do with the potential danger hanging in the air, and much more with the arousing warmth spreading out from the core of her.

If Sean was surprised or aware of how dangerous it could be for anyone sharing a room with two Stormer women as strong as Grace and Brigit, she gave no sign of it. Instead, the tall, young, ravishing woman seemed poised, collected, intrigued, and at least a little excited, a small grin tugging at one side of her lips.

"All we did to Tara was give her a good tip at the Pub," Sean admitted, amusement in her silky, sensual voice. "But now I owe her one hell of a thanks, and more than just for getting me a great ticket to your fight. You hit Renee Espa so hard it gave me a headache that turned me into a Stormer."

And knocked all the man out of me. And pretty much all the concern I should have about that.

Brigit saw the puerile fantasy of a woman's grin widen enigmatically, as though at a private joke over Grace's shoulder.

"I think I might owe you a very thorough thanks too," Sean added, wiggling slender fingers in a coy little wave.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Asarasa

[Nina]

Adrenalin and quantum energy created a heady mix and Brigit was hyped to the max. The fear that her sister had fallen prey to some stormers because of Brigit’s own antics that had somehow led them to her family had put Brigit into a fight mode unlike any she had ever been in before.

 

This wasn’t a ring and theses were not known threats. Her quantum senses were still showing the quantum signatures of the entire room including the two women in front of her and her honed fighters training took the measure of them both at a glance.

 

The blond was a more readable threat her energy was situated in her physicality and that she had reacted by placing herself into a defensive posture protecting the other woman told Brigit a lot. The stance she took was a simple defensive stance taught in any self-defense course, effective against others at that level and the untrained, but not something that worried Brigit. The woman did not look imposing, was not dressed for fighting, but the energy she had seen flowing through her body had been off the charts and Brigit wasn’t sure  which of them was stronger.

 

Then there was the other woman. The blond was beautiful by any standard, but the other woman was as far beyond beautiful as Brigit was beyond a normal body builder in strength. Her body was perfection and a lot more of it had become visible by the casually seductive stance she took causing her robe to slide open revealing a gentle yet firm curve of an sizable breast and taut flat tummy and creamy flawless white skin. Quite frankly it was that woman’s beauty which stopped Brigit from her immediate intent to attack, as she was stunned by the woman’s incredible beauty. She didn’t even notice the energy cracking in the other woman’s eyes, a reflection of the energy in her own which  she was also unaware of still.

 

Brigit took all of that in visually in a split second and then her mind registered and computed what the two were saying.

 

 

On 11/11/2020 at 2:43 PM, Grace "Apex" Williams said:

"We haven't done anything to your sister, Brigit," she stated confidently, fighting the urge to look back at Sean to check for any sign of confirmation and break the spell she was trying to weave, "It is Brigit, right? I'm Grace Williams, spoke to your trainer last night. This is Sean. Now who are you talking about? We met a Tara at your family's bar a week ago, that's all. Has something happened to her, Brigit?"

 

“What? No… I don’t know. I thought…” Brigit faltered as she recognized the name, Grace Williams, Karen had even told her she had intended to call the famous Stormer and invite her to lunch.

 

On 11/13/2020 at 9:30 AM, Sean Cassidy said:

"All we did to Tara was give her a good tip at the Pub," Sean admitted, amusement in her silky, sensual voice. "But now I owe her one hell of a thanks, and more than just for getting me a great ticket to your fight. You hit Renee Espa so hard it gave me a headache that turned me into a Stormer.

 

I think I might owe you a very thorough thanks too," Sean added, wiggling slender fingers in a coy little wave.

 

Grace had relaxed when she saw the tenseness drop from the muscle-bound woman in front of her and so she too relaxed then Sean spoke and the innuendo was as transparent as it could be. She looked back over her shoulder at Sean and made a quizzical look which conveyed her thought on the matter and silently mouthed, really?

 

At the sound of Sean’s musical voice Brigit’s eyes snapped from Grace’s face back to the beautiful woman’s and this time she did notice the eyes and felt a surge of energy as her own vision instantly magnified the goddess’s features to fill her vision. All the fear and anger faded replace by a rush of blood to her cheeks.

 

“Ah…” Brigit stammered and blushed bright red all thoughts of fighting forgotten, replaced by the sudden desire she felt for this incredible woman.

[Exile_Jeane]

Fighting her own blush and feeling the nagging pink otherness, Grace was entirely sympathetic with Brigit's shocked expression. Still Brigit had made a bit of noise, and there was a mess that needed fixing. She was good at fixing messes when the messes weren't her own emotional issues. You just dug and dug and dug until you found an approach that worked and then you stuck with it. Easy if you had the emotional stamina for it.

 

"Yes, you're both very very pretty. Powers can do that, and you were both very lucky," the blonde Stormer began, getting herself under a more-steady emotional keel, "Very good first days of being a Stormer. Let's try and keep it that way, okay?"

 

She gestured for Brigit to enter the room and stop presenting anyone who cared to pop into the hallway with a picture of Quantum Brawn Barbie, "Hungry? There should be a bagel or two left in the bag. And then we can talk, maybe head out once the city wakes up some more."

 

Grace wrinkled her brow, frowning slightly as she took in the garb of the two new Stormers. It would take quite a lot to make them look less than amazing, but they could look better. And first impressions, appearances, mattered. These two didn't need to be tied to the mud and the blood like her Stormer reputation was.  She permitted herself a raised eyebrow of amusement, "Get you some new clothes to go with your new yous. Least I should do. Welcome to the life. Up to you what you do with it."   

 

 

[Asarasa]

"Yes, well, that is the question," Sean murmured as she glanced down at herself and tightened her robe. "What to do with this new, and very different,  life I've been given. I don't think I'll be satisfied going back to just being a junior architect working in an office."

The spicy rage wafting from Brigit shifted into something sweet Sean thought of as desire. Want. A hint of something similar came from Grace. Her smile deepened. Sean wasn't sure if either woman was gay, or even bisexual or pansexual, but she was aware of the effect she was having on them without really even trying. She'd been tongue-tied around attractive women before, was amazed she'd felt so at ease sharing a table with Grace the other night.

Being beautiful - and face it, she was far more than merely beautiful - truly was a super power in its own right. Having spent forty years as a man, Sean could well imagine the effect she would have on her former gender. And she found, she didn't want to just imagine it, she wanted to experience it.

"And we aren't the only very pretty ones here, are we Brigit?" Sean said, closing the door behind the incredibly buff woman with a though and a slight push of redirected gravity - though it didn't sit flush in the frame - turning her glowing eyes from Brigit to flash Grace a playful wink. "Didn't even know there was a Stormer in Chicago when I came here. And now there are three of us, all in the same room no less. I don't believe in fate or destiny, but this does feel like something more than just coincidence too. The least we can do is help each other out while we figure out what we want to do now that we are all Stormers."

And women...

Sean gave Brigit's thick shoulder a squeeze as she stepped aside to give her space to enter the room proper, and felt her nipples tighten even more when her fingers couldn't make the slightest indent in muscle stronger than steel. What would it feel like, in bed? Does Grace feel the same, despite not having the muscles...?

"Speaking of help, I'll take you up on the offer on helping with finding me some new clothes," Sean said, nodding her head at Grace, lush lips curved in wry self-deprecation. "Though even I know that might not be that easy. I don't think much off the rack will fit me." She gave Brigit another admiring glance, the electric glow of her eyes beginning to fade, contract. "Or Brigit. But if we're going out, I still have to change, can't just saunter about in a robe. If you ladies will give me a minute or two?"

A bundle of clothes that had been hastily folded on the bed jumped into Sean's hand, followed by a belt, then she sashayed into the bathroom, the door closing behind her, but not all the way. A sliver of her shadow danced across the hotel room floor and with her hyper-keen senses, Brigit could hear every rustle of cloth, the robe slipping from sleek shoulders, underwear and jeans pulled up those long, long and shapely legs, the struggle of trying to get a t-shirt over her chest and pulling her lengthy mane of silky hair out of the neck.

Straining from trying to not peek in the door, Brigit let her eyes roam over the room as her ears listened to what was happening in the bathroom. It was a hotel room, much more modest than the one Karen had moved her into, but still nice. It didn't give much sign of being lived in, other than the open suitcase on the bed, sounded by a few distinct piles of clothes. Clothes than clearly didn't suit a woman built like Sean. Clothes that didn't suit a woman of pretty much any kind...

Sean stepped out of the bathroom, and though she was wearing more than just a robe now, if anything, if made her figure even more obvious. Her black jeans stopped well short of her ankles and strained against the remarkable curve of her behind, the leather belt cinching it tight around her tiny waist. Her plain grey-blue T-shirt was tucked in, straining tight across her chest, and tented out at the front, making it very clear she wasn't wearing a bra.

"When your sister Tara is done with her exams, I have to stop by and thank her too, and let her get a look at the new me," Sean said, voice bubbling with barely constrained laughter. "You should have seen the look on Grace's face when she did, Brigit." 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Asarasa

[Nina]

Brigit was surprised to find herself in the company of two other empowered women, one of them a noted Stormer who had fought a much-publicized battle with a storm monster in Africa. The other, a ravishing specimen of feminine beauty, so much so that it was hard to not stare at her. A beauty who if what she says is true was a middle-aged man the day before. It was a bit hard to get her head around. But she had to agree she and this Sean, needed some clothes and they all needed a level head to sort this out.

So, she took them up to the suite to meet Karen.

 

The initial introductions were intense, Sean apparently couldn’t or wouldn’t  turn off the sex appeal, and poor Manny was flustered beyond belief,  as soon as he could he made excuses to head to his gym and got out of there before he drowned in estrogen. Once he was gone things smoothed out a bit. Brigit explained what was going on, that Both Grace and Sean had been at the fight the night before and that Sean had become empowered at the same time she had, that they might be interested in representation, and that Sean and she needed to get some clothes that fit.

Karen, who had been on the phone ever since Brigit had left earlier, making legal inquiries about Stormer law and liabilities and about business opportunities, listened intently. She had built a small but serious Fight Promotion business with a stable of a dozen MMA fighters, both female and male, but empowered persons was a whole new thing, and she could see the possibilities.

She smiled after hearing the tale the wheels turning in her head, “I could use a change of scenery as well, what say I have the car meet us out front and we hit the ‘Mile.”

 

"The Magnificent Mile" - as the locals call the approximately one-mile distance between Oak Street and the Chicago River is without a doubt the high-end shopping district in the windy city. Apple, Cole Haan, Vince, Ermenegildo Zegna, Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Cartier and Tiffany and Company all have homes on this one-mile stretch. And the surrounding streets have smaller lesser well-known shops as well. Anything the super girls could want could probably be found.

 

The car was a Lincoln Navigator Black Label Extended, charcoal grey, custom interior designed for the busy executive. It comfortably sat the four women in the back on two soft leather bench seats that faced each other. The driver, Ernesto Quiroga, a retired MMA fighter, weaved in and out of traffic like the pro he was and only checked them out in the rear view a few times, which was a testament to his will power. Ernesto deposited the women at Karen’s direction and drove off to park and wait for her call to come pick them up.

 

The foursome walked along the sidewalk for a short way, drawing a great deal of attention from the men and women they passed, deciding where to start their shopping, Sean seemed a bit apprehensive all the sudden. This area was way out of his budget, and when he confided in Brigit that he could not really afford things here, Karen over hearing told the newly empowered not to worry about it this trip was on her as a celebration of their empowerment. With that reassurance Sean, now exuberant, wanted to go into every store they passed showing glee like a little girl.

 

They finally went into a store and after Sean and Brigit picked out two or three outfits to try on they entered the fitting room, leaving Grace and Karen alone for the first time, well as alone as you could be when every other person in the store was trying to steal a look at you.

 

Grace looked at a few dresses while foiling the looky loos trying to catch a glimpse of her. So far she hadn’t been recognized but that was mainly because of the two attention magnets that Sean and Brigit provided but now that they were gone the crowds attention had turned to her. None of them were paying the least bit of attention to Karen. Lucky her.

 

Karen watched the Stormer, she easily thought of Grace as a Stormer, probably because she, like most of the world had seen her battling a monster of TV during and immediately following the Storm. But she found it impossible to label Brigit and now Sean with that name thinking of them as empowered the term the officials had been using. That puzzled her. But regardless she had something to say to the fierce Stormer.

 

Grace noticed Karen’s gaze and when the older woman joined her, she inched aside to give the baseline a spot out of the line of sight of some paparazzi she had spotted and recognized from the night before. She held up dress for Karen to look at. “Very tasteful.”

 

Karen looked around as to see if anyone was in hearing range, there was not, “I owe you and apology for last night. I needed to get Brigit out of there before they swarmed her. I’m sorry about using  you like that, and would like to make up for that.”

[Exile_Jeane]

"No problem. I've been put through worse by well-meaning people," she replied, thinking back to joining her Sorority at Brown and giving a serious thought or three to actually buying the dress she had in hand. She didn't *need* another dress, but if she wanted to have a nice under-the-radar shopping session this was as close as she going to get that. 

 

Karen flowed into something Grace recognized as a sales pitch, turning to listen, "Well, I still want to make it up to you. I want to represent you. It looks as if various stormers and empowered are poised to make a big impact, socially, economically probably politically. There are already a few set pieces: a group in Africa, the Europeans, the group down in Houston, and a few in other cities in the States . Until now, Chicago didn't have any and today there's three of you. I think I can do a lot with that.  You have experience these two new empowered need, and you're a famous Stormer from the Storm. You should capitalize on that. and I'm a good business woman who has connections. I intend to make Brigit a star, and now Sean. Why not you?"

 

The blonde stormer considered the offer. Karen wasn't wrong about the impact the empowered few had and were having on the world. And if Grace hadn't been so busy burying her head in the sand she'd probably have received invites from one or more of these set pieces, privately suspected her Father of screening anything like that from reaching her ears. It wouldn't be out of character for him. More to the point, while there was nothing Karen could do for her that her family couldn't, there it was, that little voice at the back of her head urging her to do it because it *wouldn't* have anything to do with them. And she wouldn't even have to look for an opportunity like this. Here it was, dropping in her lap. How lazy was she?

 

There was the faintest upward quirk of her lips, and she hung the dress back up, "Okay. I'm interested. *But* I'm not signing anything without having a lawyer look over it first, and you'll have to share my time with Gilda's Club at least for a while. They do good work, and are the main reason I'm here at all."

 

Karen waved the concern away with the nonchalance of someone who was always prepared to deal with an unimportant detail, "We can discuss it over the dinner I still owe you." 

 

"Sure," Grace replied, grateful for the inhuman self-assurance that kept her expression steady even as she stepped off the edge of the familiar and into the storm of the unknown, pulling out a similar dress in shades of blue, "How about this one?"

[Asarasa]

Sean turned this way and that, admiring herself in the multiple mirrors of the extensive fitting room, lush raspberry lips curved in a grin. Even since going to bed a bland man and waking up a buxom bombshell beautiful beyond belief, she'd felt incredible. Now that she had clothes that fit her properly, she felt even better, and was delighting in trying out various outfits and showing them off.

She hadn't particularly cared about clothes shopping before. She usually bought her clothes at Walmart or Giant Tiger, Mark's Work Warehouse when she wanted a little more quality, and preferred to be in and out in ten to fifteen minutes, tops. She'd been apprehensive at first when she noticed the discrete price tags in the shops of The Magnificent Mile, but when Karen had made her offer, Sean had dove right in.

 

She was sure prices were inflated by the names, but with her far more sensitive skin and and more acute sense of touch, Sean could feel the difference in quality, and knew going forward she wouldn't be satisfied with mere basic quality. She luxuriated in silk and satin sliding across her skin, cashmere and angora and the finest linen, the colours so much more vibrant and distinct to her lavender eyes. She might not be able to afford shopping in the highest end shops on The Magnificent Mile, or places like Rodeo Drive and 5th Avenue, but Sean would be assigning a much higher percentage of her income on clothing and associated accessories going forward, and along with tailoring.

Even with Karen's gift, Sean found herself maxing out her credit card and emergency credit and cutting into her savings as she began replacing her wardrobe.

With Karen's help, Sean believed she could very well end up affording the best. Celebrities ended up with all sorts of ludicrous endorsement deals and with the exception of perhaps one or two other empowered, there wasn't a person more devastating attractive than she was. Still, Sean would have a lawyer look over any contract before signing it, so either party could walk away if desired. 

 

Never in a thousand years would Sean have believed she would be standing perched in 4inch Jimmy Choo Panama Wedge Sneakers, wearing a silvery satin plunge bra and matching thong. Her incredibly long, fabulous legs were encased in distressed, mauve-taupe skinny jeans that cost as much as one of her old business suits and made her ass look amazing, and her bra was hidden by a ribbed-knit old lavender cashmere shirt, the three buttons at the base of the wide v-neck undone to reveal an enticing line of mesmerizing cleavage. Her hip-length glossy rose-gold hair was tied up in a high, artfully wild ponytail with a gold and crystal chain-link hair clip.

She looked casual and chic both, and ready for a day about town or to strut down a runway. She was supermodel tall - she was actually an inch taller than she had been, now standing an even six feet tall - and curvaceous enough for any three. She had considered herself a breastman before, yet despite how well and spectacularly endowed she now was, she couldn't be more impressed by her legs and ass. Though to be fair, her every physical feature was superlative.

On the bench behind her was a burgundy, fitted Burberry coat and... she wasn't sure if it was purse or handbag or shoulder-bag or what the differences between them were, but Karen had bemusedly insisted on getting her one. When Sean realized most of the clothing she was looking at lacked pockets, let alone pockets that were useful, she understood. Beside them were several bags of other purchases that added up to a significant fraction of her yearly salary.

Sean had thought finding tops to fit her proportions would be the hardest part, but she'd been wrong. Certainly, some styles would require tailoring to accommodate a chest like hers, but she was able to find others that fit well enough, even if they were a great deal more sexualized on her. Pants on the other hand, to fit legs as long as hers with a waist as small were nearly impossible to find, unless they had a lot of stretch. Yoga pants were surprisingly comfortable and should require a license when worn by someone who looked like she did. She bought three pairs at Lululemon.

But she had other options now to consider in regards to pants. Dresses and skirts, and she hadn't been averse at all in trying some at Karen, Grace, and the salesgirls' suggestions. She had almost swooned at the sight of herself in a light salmon dress with a turtleneck that tastefully clung to and flattered her dramatic contours, matching it with dark nylons and over-the-knee Stuart Weitzman antique rose suede boots. Several styles of skirts and blouses gave her something to mix and match for a variety of outfits that ranged from casual to professional. I need to get a pair of glasses with clear lenses, just for the look...

Sean wasn't the only one that had to make allowances for her exaggerated measurements. With her marvelously muscled shoulders, arms, and thighs, combined with a very tight waist of her own, if anything, Brigit had a harder time finding fitted clothing than Sean did. Both of them had to go to specialty lingerie store to find underwear with proper fit, instead of the high end lingerie store, to Sean bemused disappointment. 

But Brigit solved the issue of fitted clothing by going with looser style, almost baggy, but it was by no means a lazy or grungy look. If it hid Brigit's superhuman physique - to  Sean's regret, she found the heavy, dense, impossibly strong muscle intensely arousing - it didn't subdue her striking good looks or her aura of resolute solidity. It did help reduce the amount of attention she immediately drew however.

Sean hadn't been interested in reducing the attention she attracted. Poor Manny had been blessed - or perhaps cursed - with being the first man to lay eyes on the woman Sean had become and like a child with a new toy, she had used her ineffable beauty to play with the man who looked old enough to be the grandfather of the empowered woman. A smile, an arch of a brow, the toss of her head or a slow recrossing of her legs, she had stroked his desire and attention until her fled.

Even in a high class place like the more expensive stores on The Magnificent Mile, a group of four women like Karen, Grace, Brigit, and Sean drew attention, especially when it took hardly a moment to realize at least two of them were empowered. But inevitably, as inexorable at gravity, most of the attention was pulled towards the center point that was the tall, exaggerated figure of Sean. The longer she was in one place, from further away she attracted eyes. Even if her heart-aching pulchritude didn't actually cause a heart attack - and that wasn't certain - it did at times stop traffic.

Sean delighted in it. As a man, she'd been somewhat oblivious to social cues, and lackluster at flirting. With a nose capable of perceiving pheromones and now far more conscious of body language, her own and others', she was far more aware and adept with social dynamics. Especially in regards to men, having spent forty as one. Aware and adept, but still learning at just how overwhelming she could be.

She flirted with a salesman just to see if she could get a deal on a pair of Zanotti croc embossed plated wedge sneakers. She supposed he was good looking, but she wasn't particularly attracted to him, though she had to admit, with being hot and bothered since her transformation she was certainly curious what it would be like sleeping with a man. In shockingly short order, he not only gave her his number, but was going to buy the shoes for her, along with a considerably more expensive pair of Louboutin boots, and would have continued to bankrupt himself just for the faintest suggestion of spending more time with her. Feeling guilty, she had to insist on buying the shoes herself, admittedly at a tremendous discount.

Sean pursed her lips at herself in the mirror in thought. A woman with her looks, and presence, and sex appeal wouldn't be to do something at simple as go to the store to buy groceries or see a movie at the theatres without attracting all the attention. She attracted attention and desire, want and envy, as simply as gravity acted upon a falling apple.

And she controlled gravity as easily as she breathed.

Sean strutted gracefully out of the fitting room. It had taken a bit of practice, but able to determine how much she allowed gravity to act upon her helped greatly and Sean didn't find walking in heels all that difficult. And they made her already impeccable legs and ass look even more spectacular.

She didn't look any different, was no less striking or enthralling, her voice no less melodious and sultry, the tallest and most voluptuous among the four women. But now carried herself with such élan and equanimity that eyes noted her and moved on, seeing an attractive but human, young woman, her subtle presence urging them to overlook that a veritable sex goddess stood in their midst, drawing less notice than the other three women unless she addressed someone directly.

Sean's smile could have brought a straight man to his knees and made a straight woman reconsider her choices. It seemed she could have the best of both worlds, all the attention she wanted, and to shunt it aside when desired.

"This is sooo much better than Clark Kent glasses," Sean giggled to herself, as she glided through the shop with a bit of extra sway to her hips, to see what Brigit and Grace thought of her latest outfit.

 

Spoiler

Styles Sean is looking at/collecting are similar to a mix of these Instagrams, minus the pointy, thin-heeled shoes, at least so far, only has a single pair of jeans at the moment.

Katerina 
Denise
Anna

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Asarasa

[Nina]

875 North Michigan Avenue… a few hours earlier….

 

Star rode the private elevator alone, the soft rock music almost lulling her to sleep. It was a long ride. The 97^th and 98^th floors both belonged to her employer, Malcolm Singleton, a newcomer on the entrepreneurial scene who had made quite a splash as an investor in the months since the Storm.

 

Malcolm had come out of nowhere and was hard to pin down where his money came from but since he spread it around quite liberally not much effort had been put forth by the city to find out any real details about his businesses which he described as ‘Foreign Investment’. He was a very likeable fellow handsome and fit for his age which was in the mid-sixties somewhere. He was single but never lacked the company of beautiful women or attractive men. he went to all the galas, attended all the premieres and events and was the city’s newest financial royalty. He was also what the comic books would call a criminal mastermind and a super villain.

 

The elevator came to a stop with a barely noticeable bump at the 98^th floor. This was the residence. The doors slid open onto a wide vestibule, directly across from the elevator was another double door of expensive oak, flanking the doors on either side were two men who looked like they stepped out of a godfather movie. Joe Picatori and Seth Tradeen, Malcolm’s most trusted trigger men. But not as trusted as Star. Nor as scary.

 

“He up,” she asked the two thugs. It was a little after 9:30 am, Malcolm was a notorious late riser.

 

“Yeah,” Joe answered, flicking a thumb to the double doors, “he’s having breakfast. You might wanta go back down and have a coffee or sumptin’. Come back in an hour or so.”

 

Star cocked her head and began the stare down with Joe that she had expected, “It’s a long elevator ride and this is important.” One of these days, Star thought, I am going to get tired of this shithead and cut this fucker from balls to throat and laugh while his guts spill out.

 

Seth watched as his partner set his shoulders and stared at the blonde, jesus fucking christ, he is just asking for it. Thirty seconds passed and neither girl nor goon blinked or gave any sign of giving in. With a shake of his head Seth reach over and opened the door swinging it wide so the girl could enter. Star smiled at Seth and strode through the door while Joe glared and at Seth who just shrugged and pulled the door shut after Star went through.

 

Star (real name Miriam Talbot) was five foot eight, slim with a dancer’s build and grace. Everything about her was pale. Pale almost translucent porcelain skin, fine white-blond hair, Blue eyes like clear arctic ice. She wore white slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt of thin sheer silk, which was open almost to her navel revealing the slight curve of small, underdeveloped breasts. Even her nipples, which were hard with the excitement at the almost confrontation outside the door, and could be glimpsed through her thin shirt, were pale pink and small. The only color were her shoes which were black no nonsense flats, black metallic bracelets,  black studs in her pierced ears and black eye makeup. She was beautiful in a natural way and her makeup was exquisite. She had always had this beauty even before the Storm.  

While not in the league of Grace, Bridget, and certainly not with Sean, she could turn heads if sahe wanted too. Only careful study of her in comparison with others would reveal the perfection of her features and only then would one begin to suspect that there was something unnatural about her. Star of course was empowered, a Stormer, who had gleaned a set of abilities that made her deadly and set her on the short path to where she was now.

 

Star paused as the door closed behind her, taking in the room. It was a large open room; you could hold a ball in it and still not feel crowded. The décor was tasteful and spoke of subtle wealth. The art on the wall was a mix of modern and classical, she didn’t know art, but she would guess that they were all original and expensive. There was a single large executive table made of real wood it could accommodate twenty-six but there was only one at the head of the table.  

 

Star was surprised to see that her boss was alone, seated at the table which was piled with numerous dishes of breakfast foods. Malcolm was eating a hearty very hearty breakfast his plate, before him piled high with eggs, bacon, ham, and pancakes, all of it liberally doused with maple syrup. He didn’t look up from his plate.

“Star,” he said after swallowing a mouth full of food, “I’m eating. You know I don’t like to be bothered when I’m eating.” His voice was flat with a heavy Chicago accent, he stabbed his fork into a piece of ham, then added bacon and with his knife in his right hand slid a pile of egg on with the meat then added pancake before shoveling the overloaded utensil into his mouth. Only then did his head rise and as he chewed the huge mouthful of food, he looked at Star. He didn’t see the beautiful girl, all he saw was the powers she possessed, her utility, her worth as a tool. The look made Star shiver inside.

 

She did not say anything, just stood there avoiding eye contact while Malcolm chewed thoughtfully, swallowed then picked up a glass of milk and drained off half of it. He set the glass down picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. His eyes never left Star and she never looked directly at him. She knew what he could do. He sniffed and took a deep breath and sat back.

 

Suddenly he laughed and his face broke out in a big grin, “Come on Star I’m just kidding sit down, you want some toast.” He sat forward and picked up a plate with stacked slices of toast and offered it to her she shook her head and sat. He took a couple of slices and slathered butter on them then folded one in half and took a bite making half the slice of toast vanish into his maw. “So, what’s so important you bugging me this early,” he asked around the food?

 

“We might have some trouble.”

 

Malcolm swallowed and washed it down with the rest of the milk in the glass. He looked at her but didn’t say anything, she took that as a command to get on with it.

“You saw the fight last night. That fighter, Moran, she’s a Stormer, least she is now. I saw her at the gym after and she’s strong she was tossing 1200 lbs of weights like they was paper towels.”

 

“She see you?”

 

Star thought about it, shook her head, “It was crowded, she was showing off for the assholes who go there to drool over sweaty half naked girls. If she did see me all she saw was a good looking blond. But I left quick after making sure it was her from the fight.’ She reached over and picked a strawberry off a fruit platter. “But that ain’t all. The papers and social media were all over the fight last night and I saw this morning that there was another Stormer there. That rich bitch, the one that beat up the monster in Africa.” She let that hang between Malcolm and her and took a bite out of the strawberry.

 

“Grace Williams,” Malcolm said matter-of-factly.

 

“Yeah, that’s her. They call her Apex, that’s her Stormer name.”

 

Malcolm nodded and opened his mouth to speak but Star raised her hand one finger extended up toward the ceiling. “That ain’t all, ‘ She shook her head a wry smile on her lips. “I followed Moran when she left the gym, she went to a hotel. I hung out to see what I could find out, that’s where I learned about Apex being in town. And low and behold early this morning who should come strolling into that hotel lobby?” She tilts her head with a questioning look at her boss.

 

He just sits there saying nothing.

 

She gives a soft sigh when he doesn’t play along, “ Apex. Apex comes in.” Star finishes the story and pops the rest of the strawberry into her mouth.

Malcolm sits and thinks looking off toward the window but seeing nothing.

 

“Okay, get some eyes back on the fighter, steer clear of Apex until we know what her game is.” He picks up his knife and fork again, “Get someone to dig into this Moran chick, see if she’s worth persuing.’ He begins loading his fork again, “And Star, good work.”

 

She takes this as the dismissal it is and stands to go follow orders.

 

Spoiler

Star              Malcolm  

 

 

 

 

 

[Nina]

Brigit was awestruck at the shops and the clothes she was seeing and trying on. This was a fantasy dream come true she had never really imagined herself in these sorts of clothing. But two things were distracting her from utter enjoyment. The first was Sean.

 

Brigit could not believe that what she had said about her having been a man were true, there was absolutely nothing mannish about the incredible feminine dream that was Sean. Her figure, her poise Brigit kept finding her eyes drawn back to that exotic and erotic form and could only nod and stammer when asked if something looked good. Everything looked good on Sean.

 

The other distraction was her own clothes shopping her body was no longer normal her waist was too small and her shoulders too wide and let us not even talk about the fact that the bulk of her muscles made it impossible to fit anything even close without extensive modification. She found some shoes she liked that fit and, in the end, selected several good looking but baggy clothes that were loose fitting and comfortable if not exactly glamorous the only concession was a dress that Sean had looked at but hadn’t chosen for herself, but she showed it to Brigit. It was made of a tight form fitting, but stretchable fabric and it took some coaxing on Sean’s part to get Brigit to even try it on but after she did Brigit was so glad. It was by far the most expensive item Brigit had in her bags and did not require tailoring. She couldn’t wait to wear it out.

 

The four went from shop to shop until it was time for lunch and a quick text message from Karen the car arrived at the curb where they loaded their loot and crammed into the luxury SUV

 

“Looks like you  bought out the whole street,” said Ernesto with a good natured laugh, “Where would you ladies like to lunch?”

[Asarasa]

"You would think so," Sean replied, chuckling along with Ernesto and flashing him a winsome, playful grin meant to warm and inspire, rather than enflame and enrapture. "But new women need new wardrobes. This, I think, it just one trip of many. I do hope you won't find it too onerous."

 

She didn't mean to be a remote ice queen, never deigning to acknowledge those she thought beneath her. She knew, first hand, how hard it could be to approach, let alone speak to, a beautiful woman. Sean was well aware she wouldn't be able to determine precisely how everyone would react to her, and already, she enjoyed being a bit of a tease, but that didn't mean she couldn't offer some encouragement or a boost of confidence to a man with a brief smile or quick wink when she caught them checking her out. That went for women too, when she didn't feel a curiously mischievous vindictiveness when they decided to be catty or jealous.

 

Helping her with her bags - Sean had nearly twice as many as Brigit and Grace combined, and they had filled the trunk and overflowed into the back of the stretched, luxury SUV - Ernesto shook his head with assurance, giving the tall, young, curvaceous impossible beauty an appreciative, but not ogling, once-over. He even had the grace and wherewithal to include Brigit and Grace. 

 

"Never, Ms. Cassidy. If any of you ladies need a driver, an extra pair of hands, or even just an escort to run interference, please give me call, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Careful, Ernesto," Sean said. "You might find yourself being taken advantage of. As for lunch... " She arched a brow, lavender eyes going from Ernesto to Karen and Brigit. "I haven't even been in Chicago for a week. Any suggestions for something quintessentially Chicago?" Sean held up a restraining finger as soon as she asked her question. "Not deep dish pizza." Her inviting lips quirked wryly. "I tried that already. I have to say, I wasn't that impressed. It's pizza cake."

[Exile_Jeane]

"Agreed," Grace rang in, not a particular fan of pizza to start with. If she was going to indulge, she'd rather eat sweets anyway, the fresher the better. Still good work was done today. She *knew* the other, well, two women, would look even better properly dressed, and, of course, she was right. A very pleasant afternoon spent being mostly ignored by paparazzi if Sean or Brigit was in eyeshot, too. She'd have to consider that a perk of this arrangement whatever else came of it. The blonde stormer very nearly blushed at where that could go as she recalled from of Sean's flirting.

 

She covered any potential slip by looking down and fishing out her phone, "One of my friends from Brown grew up in Chicago. She sent me a whole list of restaurants worth the name when she found out I was moving here."

 

A few brisk taps and swipes of her thumb brought up the relevant convo, looking back up, considering. Arbor? Maaaaybe if she was feeling selfish.  Daley's Restaurant? Who didn't like breakfast if they were still serving... North Pond? A place to see and be seen, probably not to their palate.  The Silver Palm? Hmmmm. Three Dots and a Dash? It sounded nice. Realizing that she was taking this thing too seriously given how much the three of them together would nuke any social vibe. no matter where they went. "...I'll concede to Brigit's expertise if she has an opinion, but my friend had good things to say about both the Silver Palm or Daley's, but she always had a fun habit of giving me a bad time for my own good, so I'll take it with a grain of salt," Grace joked with not-quite mock seriousness.

[Nina]

Brigit stared wide eyed at Grace and shrugged her shoulders and shook her head and stammered “Karen?”

 

Karen Laughed and leaned forward so Ernesto could see her in the rearview. “Let’s go to XOCO, Ernesto if the traffic’s not to bad.”

 

“Yes ma’am”

Spoiler

XOCO Menu  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PI8gkTTyl0phLZOOnUzKcXNy-Uod79_I/view?usp=sharing

 

Twenty minutes later the four ladies were sitting on the patio of arguably the best Mexican restaurant in Chicago. Grace and Karen talked business and ideas between bites while Sean and Brigit ate more then either of them thought possible. They drew stares although mostly it was people trying to get a good look at Sean and it was not until the end of the meal that someone recognized Grace as Apex and snapped a pic with their phone. Then that name was whispered and suddenly more phones came out and all sense of polite manners went out the window.

 

Karen called for the check and Ernesto and settled the bill while Grace, Sean, and Brigit made there exit to the SUV. Once Karen joined them, she shook her head, “Girls this is what’s in store for all three of you and why you need me. Now before you go and say you can take care of yourself, listen to me. That back there is going to

happen everywhere you go, you have seen it in the media with Nova’s like the Einhejar, and that blue girl that can fly and calls herself Kree. You, Grace have had a taste of it and you haven’t been in the spotlight much at all since Africa. But mention the name Apex and boom flash bulbs and autographs.

 

I have experience and I have the nucleus of an organization which can make your lives easier. I can deal with the Media and the law, or rather I will find the right people who can. Your exact situations and needs are different, but I have been in this business promoting and protecting fighters for a long time. I am willing to put all of my efforts into doing what I do for you.”

 

While Karen talked Ernesto drove. He had started back toward the hotel but had run afoul of traffic and had detoured which it turned out had not been the best Idea. He checked the GPS looking for a clear route, but traffic and accidents and other obstacles kept him from finding a direct route. As he turned onto what he hopped would take them to a straight shot they found themselves on the waterfront in a industrial area surrounded by warehouses and fenced in lots all of which looked abandoned.

 

The cloudy sky and raggedy dressed men and women standing around the metal drum burning trash and what have you, used as heaters gave the area, they were in a subdued downtrodden aura.  Then as Ernesto made a turn Sean caught sight of a large three story warehouse, a couple of blocks away down a side street with smoke billowing from its upper windows and as she watched but before she could say anything the window of the second floor blew outwards and great tongues of flame shot upwards!

 

[Exile_Jeane]

Grace sighed and bent down to start pulling off her shoes. She liked these shoes.

 

"Okay, Ladies. This is where it gets complicated. Right now, you two are just two new Stormers far as the public's concerned, and in a perfect world, you'd first get a long, working weekend far away from everyone to test your limits safely. I didn't get that."

 

There was a far away, distracted look in her gray eyes as she straightened up, removing her jewelry one piece at a time, voice flat and even, "And here's the world offering to trade your chance at that away for the title 'hero', to charge towards the sounds of chaos and into a building that may very well fall on your head with you inside it. Maybe even save someone for your trouble. You do it once, get seen doing it, and people will expect it of you forever because that's what people are like when Bad Things Happen and Someone Else so obviously has the power to Fix It. Not good, not not bad, just is."

 

The blonde Stormer slipped her necklace into her jacket pocket with the rest of her finery, looking simultaneously at and beyond the blooming inferno, lips pursed tight and bloodless, "You have the power to help now if you want. It's your call if we step out of this car, but once they see you helping, that's it, heroes."

 

[Asarasa]

Sean had always been a leave and let live sort. Don't get involved in her business unless she asked you, and she wouldn't get involved in yours unless you asked. She'd only ever been in three actual, physical fights in her life, and one barely even counted. She'd simply stood up on the school bus and gave the little shit sitting behind her who had been irritating her the entire time three punches to the side of the head. One of the other fights had been with her best friend at the time, and for the life of her, she couldn't remember why it had started, but as soon as the fight was over, they'd been good and friends again, as though nothing had happened. There had been one time when she'd seen a fight in front of her, a man yelling at his girlfriend or wife across the busy street of a bus hub, but by the time she'd worked up the nerve to intervene, the verbal altercation had died down.

 

Now of course, all that would change for her, Sean was well aware. Simply sitting down for a meal - and she would never have guess with a waist as small as hers now was she'd be able to eat that much, she hadn't even thought she was that hungry! - had seen to that. The spotlight would always be on her, unless she used her virtual 'Clark Kent' glasses to shunt the attention away, and even then, it only mitigated the attention, it didn't negate it.

 

Karen made some very cogent points, and Sean had grown more inclined towards signing with her as she spoke. It would be a constant balancing act between basking in the limelight and using her newly acquired social dynamism to encourage her admirers and fans to give her a little distance when she wanted it and Karen's help and influence would help greatly in dealing with it.

And then, beyond the implausible pulchritude and sensuous presence, there was the power. Omnipresent, unlimited, so pervasive that few gave it much thought on a day to day basis despite it affecting every moment of their lives. Gravity. She was aware of it on an intuitive and intimate level like no other. It was her plaything, to twist and toy with as she willed.

She hadn't had real power before, economic, social, political, physical, or any other sort, not really. She'd been just another face in the crowd. An undifferentiated part of the mundane masses. She wasn't anymore, and wouldn't be ever again. Now, she had power. She frowned, staring at the ragged refugees who had turned to look away from the luxury SUV, looked at the smoke and flames billowing from the building beyond them.

Sean had played with and delighted with her gravitic manipulations. Now, here was an opportunity to do something meaningful with them, and she'd only had them for half a day so far. And while she didn't necessarily believe power begat responsibility - especially when she had done nothing to gather that power other than being in the right place at the right time - Sean couldn't bring herself to simply stand aside and do nothing when she had the power to do something, especially when it was happening right in front of her.

"Not sure about being heroes, that word gets thrown about too much these days, I think, " Sean commented with dry seriousness that did nothing to diminish the sultriness of her sweet soprano. "But I don't think I can bring myself to be a big enough bitch to sit by when there might be something I can do about something right in front of me."

Sean didn't have any jewelry, and while she wasn't about to go barefoot like Grace regardless of how expensive her shoes were, she did slip her deep raspberry Burberry coat from her shoulders and fold it, setting it on top of her handbag. From the depths of her lavender eyes, the ever present pinpricks of dancing quantum energy flared alight, the doors of the SUV opening under Sean's precise gravitokinetic command.

Grace, Brigit, and Karen could feel a subtle but distinct change in the ambient atmosphere as Sean sheathed herself in an embracing field of gravitic force. There wasn't really anything to see, except for a very faint penumbra about her, as though the contrast between her and everything else had sharpened, her outline seeming more delineated.

"All that shopping, and didn't think once about a superheroine costume or how I'd keep a secret identity," Sean said, one leg than the other sliding out of the car as she stood up. "Alright! Let's do this before I think about it too much and come back to my senses."

She hadn't had much time to practice with her powers. She knew she could protect herself with a protective field - it was stopping her from feeling the cold despite a fair bit of bosom on display. Could it stop a bullet? Fire? This didn't seem like the ideal way of finding out. She hold up a person and lift up a queen-sized bed. Now to see if she could hold up a building - or part of one at least - and how many people she could lift to safety. She could float, now to see if she could fly.

Sean stretched as she started to rise up in the air, her Jimmy Choo wedge sneakers lifting off the ground. Her long, rose-gold hair gleamed under the sun, but remained curiously still despite rising gusts of sharp, cold wind.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Asarasa

[Nina]

Brigit, along with Grace, Karen, and Ernesto, watch awestruck as the angel which was Sean, soared into the air toward the burning warehouse. “Fuck me,” said Brigit turning to look at Karen, “She can fly! I can't fly,” she finished saying already out of the SUV and running along behind the flying Beauty.

 

“Sean! There are people on the third floor!”

 

Even being unable to see through solid material, Brigit could magnify her vision to easily make out details through smoke and windows. The ground floor was a raging inferno and the second was burning as well that was where the smoke was thickest, fueled by something stored in the warehouse most likely. She hoped it wasn't toxic.

 

Her empowerment had given her super vision beyond anything she could have imagined but her eyes weren't the only sensory organs to be affected. While not as sensitive as her vision, Brigit's hearing was also now much keener than a normal humans and she could just make out the cries of fear and panic. And what was that? Gun shots?

 

"Be careful I think I hear guns!"

 

[Nina]

It was all happening so fast Karen who was never shook up or stunned, found herself not knowing what to do…what she could do.

 

Grace had made her speech but before she had even finished it the doors of the SUV had opened by themselves and Sean had lept from the vehicle and floated away with Grace right behind her and then so was Brigit, running after Sean and shouting something about flying. And guns?

 

“Shit,” cried Karen as she slid from the SUV phone in hand pointing away taking video, just as Grace, a few yards away crouched putting a fist to the ground then shot away into the air in a graceful curve toward the burning warehouse. Brigit was running, fast down the street while Sean flew in a straight line. Karen was trying to catch all of it and cursing then she shouted back over her shoulder to Ernesto.

 

“Call 911 then get your ass out here and help me video this!”

 

The fire was raging like a living thing, flame shooting from the shattered windows of the second floor, like tentacles wreathed in billows of inky black smoke. Visible at several windows on the third, and top, floor, people could be seen smashing at them with chairs, trash cans, boards, what ever they could find to break the safety glass.

As Grace and Sean closed in the could hear the whoosh and crackle of flames and odd popping sounds some a single pop some a staccato string of pops. It did sound like gunfire…

 

Spoiler

Ok as you can see i didn't really post your actions just took what you told me to set the scene.

We are not in rounds yet so initiative is not rolled however I am going to assign focus for posting order here due to speed of action. Sean is prbably capable of flying faster than Graces leap, but this is the first time she has flown and is probably unsure and well clumsy at it. Grace has done it before, there for I want Grace to go first, then Sean then Brigit.

 

I will explain how we will do initiative in a rules post when we get to it.

 

if you need any information pm me

 

 

 

[Exile_Jeane]

There was a reassuring thoughtlessness to just hurling herself into danger after months and months of stewing in her own anxiety. Jacket neatly folded away on her seat and shoes stowed back in the car, Grace bid preemptive goodbye to the blouse and skirt she was wearing as she hurled through the air for a third story window on the building's nearest face. 'Falling with style' echoed grimly through her thoughts as she crashed through the reinforced glass like it was paper. A mastered-through-experience tuck-and-roll brought her to a halt in the center of the room on one knee, head jerking up to scan her surroundings. An office. Abandoned. Mattresses and dirty blankets. No people though. Not here.

 

The blonde Stormer forced herself to breath deeply, once twice, a moment of zen to let the superhuman unflappability she felt envelop her like armor against the chaos that awaited her through the doorless opening in front of her.

 

"Move, Williams," she spoke aloud to the empty room, and rose to her feet, crossing the distance to the exit, head on a swivel to take in the new larger room. Her lips pressed to a thin bloodless line at what she saw. Smoke billowing up the stairs. People clustered around a door or huddled in the side chambers, the desperate and the needy who'd squat here. And, yes, gunfire from the second floor. Perfect. Okay. One problem at a time.

 

"Hi! I'm Apex, and I'm here to help," she called out with a practiced smile, not breaking her stride for the actively escaping group, "Does that lead to a fire escape?"  

[Asarasa]

Though outwardly Sean looked poised and determined, arms thrown back and one leg bent at the knee as she rose up in the air, her heart pounded with trepidation... and exhilaration. Despite it being ostensibly the right thing to do, she was still sending herself into danger, in a situation she had in no way prepared or been trained for. Hell, she hadn't even been a woman, albeit a superpowered one, for a full day yet.

 

On the other hand, she was fucking flying! The thrill, the sheer sense of liberation, was intoxicating. Fooling around in her hotel room, walking on the ceiling, floating was one thing. Actually flying, soaring up two, three, four stories in the air under her own power, no ropes, ziplines, ski lifts or the like was something else entirely. Flying didn't feel like how she imagined or dreamed it would. It wasn't like she was flapping her arms of course, but there wasn't really a sense of thrust either. It felt kinda like she was still and the world was moving around her, and a bit like she was falling, just falling in a different direction.

And if she just let herself go, she'd keep 'falling', picking up speed until she hit terminal velocity and then beyond. Sean didn't know just how fast she might be able to go, but she was pretty sure it was pretty fast, and as much as she wanted to find out, now wasn't the time. Keeping a tight rein on herself, her arc through the sky was smooth but cautious.

At least, being able to fly and twist gravity to her whim as easily as she breathed, Sean didn't have the sphincter tightening feeling she used to get around heights. It hadn't been a fear of heights, precisely. But she went she'd been around considerable heights with only a minor barrier between them and her, she'd get something akin to vertigo and an instinctive urge to jump.

 

The one stairwell in high school where the railing at the top had stopped well before her waist. Leaning over the balcony at her grandmother's apartment on the fourteenth floor (actually the thirteenth floor, but for superstition). And especially at the Luxor in Las Vegas - the rooms line the walls, but the interior of the pyramid was open, looking down on the casino floor, with only a short barrier between the hallway and open air that felt entirely too inadequate, especially for some place where being intoxicated was far from uncommon. The urge to jump had been strong there, and she'd always walked as far from the edge as she could, going to her room.

 

The urge was gone, replaced with one wanting her to go higher, faster, to soar above the clouds and beyond the horizon. And she would, just not at the moment.

Sean blinked, more white-blue light filling her lavender eyes, as Grace flew pass her in a mighty leap, to go crashing a plate glass window, shards falling to shatter on the ground. She shook her head, nose wrinkling as more smoke billowed out, the scent scratching at her olfactory sense. She might have been girded by a gravitic shield, but she wasn't about to slam herself through a thick pane of safety glass to test it out.

She glanced back and down as Brigit called out, the incredibly muscular woman sprinting behind her. Guns?  Sean cocked her head, now hearing some popping sounds. Were those gunshots? The only gunshots she'd ever heard were in video games and on the screen, never one in real life, not that she was aware of.

Sean nodded and shouted back, "Gotcha! I will!"

 

Despite that, she shifted her angle of approach, flying in front of another of the floor-to-ceiling windows, coughing delicately at the acrid smoke, clearing her throat. "Stand back, ladies and gentlemen," Sean called out in reassurance she didn't entirely feel, melodious voice sweet and rich, cutting through crackling flames and thick glass. "And we'll have you all out of there in a minute."

The men, women, children and adolescents trying to break through the glass, paused in surprise and shock at the figure hanging in the air about twenty feet from the window. A young woman, tall like a supermodel and dressed like a celebrity trying to be casual. She was impossibly gorgeous, exotic, erotic, with exaggerated curves, and yet, somehow wholesome, hourglass silhouette contrasting sharply against the blue sky behind her and the dark smoke about her. Her long, glossy rose-gold ponytail billowed upward from the updrafts of heat and her eyes were solid orbs of coruscating quantum energy.

She had practiced on a bagel, but this would be far more extensive. She pulled on planes of gravity, wielding them like infinitely thin, barely discernible blades and sheered through the edges of the entire floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window. She was about to let it fall to the ground when she reconsidered. From blade to a grasp, she mentally redefined how gravity worked in the immediate area. She thought she could only lift one thing at a time, maybe a few, if they were close or clung together. 

But there was another way.

The broad plate of glass tilted smoothly down until it was flat, parallel to the ground, a transparent floor extending out from the edge of the building. If she could only manipulate one thing, make it a big thing that others could ride down to safety.  Sean drifted forward, Jimmy Choo wedge sneakers coming to rest on glass held steady by redirected gravity and will.

Every eye Sean could see was locked on her, drawn to her like the gravity she manipulated. She waved and smiled encouragingly, affecting calm, directed purpose. Superpowered supermodels fly through the sky to lift people to safety on glass windows all the time. "All aboard, people. No crowding now, and careful at the edges, please, but I promise, I won't drop you and I'll have you all down and safe in a moment."

Edited February 10, 2021 by Asarasa