THE MAID OF STEEL
Halloween Special #2

The ruins of fast food wrappers laid all around them, along with plates with the crumbly remains of cheesecake crust.

"Oh my God, I'm so full." Linda groaned, snuggling up to Dick Malverne as they watched television. "That really hit the spot."

"How are you feeling?" Dick asked. "You took quite a licking from Blackstarr."

"Better. I think the food helped. Healing after plunging into Mercury's hot atmosphere and beneath it's molten surface gives you quite the appetite." Linda said, pressing her cheek against Dick's chest. "Your company helps."

"Good." Dick said, pulling her close. "It's nice to finally get some time alone with you. I've been here nearly three hours now and we haven't been interrupted by some super-villain and you haven't had to rush off to save the world. Karrie is at your parents' house for the night… we're all alone. I think the stars are aligning for us tonight."

"Don't say that." Linda groaned, "You'll jinx it. Blackstarr will come crashing through the window. Or Ambush Bug."

"Ambush Bug is an urban legend." Dick replied, "Made up to scare children."

Linda looked up at Dick to say something, but stopped herself. He was looking at her very intently. A moment went by as they maintained eye contact.

Finally, after several moments had passed, Dick lifted her chin, kissing her tenderly. "I've been wanting to do that for awhile now."

"Hard to believe we haven't kissed since before Leesburg." Linda said, smiling up at him. "And that first kiss was… well, it wasn't much more than a peck."

"I know." Dick grinned, kissing her again. He pulled away, gazing down into her eyes. "But, we've been taking it slow since we were reunited. And I think it's best. If we're going to make it in the long run, it's better to take it slow. We have all the time in the world."

Linda kissed him passionately. When they broke the kiss, she told him, "We do. And I want to make every moment count." Linda kissed him again.

"That was nice." Dick smiled, hugging Linda tightly.

They were silent for several minutes, just listening to each other breath.

"So, I was thinking that perhaps on Saturday we could drive up to Lake Front Park and have a picnic. We could invite Karrie and Cutter and Mattie, your parents… heck, even your friend Craig that is always calling for you." Dick twisted a lock of Linda's hair around his finger.

"Oh my…" Linda said, grinning at him, "Are you jealous of Craig Morris?"

"Of course, not. Why would I be?" Dick said, sounding suddenly uncomfortable.

"Because I had a mad crush on him for a while there and he's good looking." Linda said, sitting up slightly, looking at the tightness that had settled into Dick's jaw.

"Why would I be jealous of Craig Morris? That's so silly---"

"Wait." Linda said, her attention drawn to the television. She turned the volume up.

"This is Johnny Drew at Channel 8. And we are here with a late-breaking update-" the screen was filled with a scene of downtown. "An escaped super-villain is wrecking havoc in downtown Midway City. Our reports identify her as Vivia Kerwin, a criminal who was imprisoned four months ago in the southern part of the state after a series of bankrobberies. Her nomme de guerre is Skeleta due to--."

"Dick, I'm sorry, but-" Linda started.

"I know." Dick smiled at her, "You have to go."

"I'm sorry." Linda kissed him again, "Don't go anywhere. This shouldn't take very long."

"I'll be right here."

Linda stood up and in a flash she had transformed into Supergirl. She headed for an open window and flew off into the night.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the transformation." Dick said shaking his head.

Several seconds after Supergirl was gone, there came a knock at the door.

Dick went to the door, pulling it open.

"Is Linda here?"

Dick looked at the face of Cynthia Stanley, pale and ghostly, her eyes ringed by dark circles. Dick felt a shiver go through him. He knew that he should be used to weird stuff like this, he'd been hanging around Linda long enough, and Leesburg had been far weirder than Midway City so far, but looking into Cynthia's dark empty eyes he did not know if he'd ever be used to things like this either.

"No. Linda has gone out for a bit." Dick said, his throat dry.

"I see." Cynthia said, "You're Dick, right? You're nice."

"Yeah. How did you know my name?" Dick asked, feeling drawn into her dark empty eyes.

"I just did." Cynthia looked down the hallway, nervously. "Tell Linda I stopped by." She then rushed off, leaving Dick looking after her confused.

Skeleta lifted a car above her head, tossing it aside effortlessly, sending it smashing through a window front of a pub. The people inside scattered, narrowly avoiding death from the car. Several of them were injured by the shattering glass.

Several police officers came running up behind Skeleta, fanning out so that they made a triangle formation.

"FREEZE LADY!" One of the officers shouted.

Skeleta turned her attention to the officers, her grotesque gaze falling upon them.

"Oh sweet Jesus." One of the officers said, flinching as she got a good look at Skeleta.

"My name isn't Lady." Skeleta said, her voice saccharine sweet. "Nor is it Jesus." With black leather gloved hands, she lifted another car into the air.

"PUT THAT DOWN!" The first officer shouted, looking at the woman's grinning skull-face.

"As you wish Officer." Skeleta purred, tossing the car toward the man.

The officer's eyes grew wide as the car hurtled toward him. In his mind, he said a prayer, knowing that his time was up.

"That's just rude." Supergirl said, sweeping down from the sky and putting herself between the officer and the car. Supergirl put her hands out in front of her, blocking the car from coming any closer. She then picked it up over her own head and set it out of the way. "You shouldn't do stuff like that. It's just not nice."

"Haven't you heard of me Supergirl?" Skeleta said, her bright green eyes peering out from eye-sockets. She put her hands on her hips, her fingers digging into the skin-tight black leather of her body suit. A banner of bright red hair waved behind her, growing from thin scabby patches of skin at her scalp.

"No." Supergirl said, "Contrary to popular believe there isn't a newsletter detailing the life and crimes of every two bit super-villain out there. And you're definitely not one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Meta-Humans."

"Not yet." Skeleta said, "But after I kill Supergirl, I'm sure I'll be on the top of every one's list."

"It's going to take a lot more than super-strength and an ugly face to kill me." Supergirl said.

"Now, who's being rude?" Skeleta asked, picking up another car. She tossed it toward Supergirl.

Supergirl caught it in the air, setting it aside gently. "And cars are definitely not going to stop me Skull-face."

"My name is Skeleta." The woman said, "And I have more than super-strength and an ugly face."

"Is it a winning personality?" Supergirl asked, advancing toward Skeleta.

Skeleta leaped through the air, slamming a fist into Supergirl.

The suddenness of the blow startled Supergirl and the impact sent her skidding backward. She crashed into a parked car, pushing it up onto the curb and into a fire hydrant, which promptly cracked open, sending a geyser of water out into the street.

"That was a lucky shot." Supergirl said, picking herself up. "You won't get another one."

Supergirl flew toward Skeleta.

Lt. Fred Danvers pulled his car to a squealing stop and jumped out, "SUPERGIRL DON"T!"

"I've got it Lieutenant!" Supergirl called out to him, wishing her father wouldn't worry so much about her. This nasty was going to be easy enough to deal with.

"DON'T-" Fred Danvers shouted, wanting to tell his daughter that Skeleta was dangerous-even to Supergirl.

He was cut off by the explosion of lightning from Skeleta's hands. The white lightning bolts danced from her hands, slamming into Supergirl. The intensity of two bolts of lightning knocked Supergirl from the sky. She fell to the street with a thump, smoke rising up from her.

Skeleta towered over her, lightning dancing from her right hand. With her left hand, Skeleta lifted Supergirl up by the hair.

"Now, I'll show you just what I can do." Skeleta laughed.

Three ghostly forms rose from Skeleta's body, hovering in the air around her, their horrible faces twisted into grotesque masks of pain and hate. As they brushed their ethereal forms against Supergirl, an unintentional moan escaped from her lips.

Skeleta approached Supergirl's limp form slowly, drawing toward the ghosts. The ghosts that had been her only friend all of these years. Skeleta grabbed Supergirl, but the hair, lifting her.

Holding her by the hair, Skeleta watched the lightning dancing from her own hands.

"Will you survive a direct bolt of lightning to the face?" Skeleta asked the unconscious Supergirl. "Or will your face melt away to nothing more than a skull like mine?"

The ghosts danced all around, brushing against Supergirl's unconscious form, calling to Skeleta whispering that she could kill Supergirl.

"Kill her." The first ghost said. "Kill her now."

"Yessssssss….kill her." The second ghost said.

"Kill her. Kill her. Kill her." The third ghost said. "She laughs at you Vivia."

"She does." The first ghost said. "She laughs at you like the others. She hates you like the others. She thinks that she's SO pretty."

"And you're so ugly. You don't even have a face." The second ghost said. "She thinks you're a no one. No one. A nobody. Nothing. Worthless."

"You're ugly. Ugly. That's what she told me." The third ghost said.

"She thinks you're ugly." The first ghost said. "Kill her Vivia. Kill her now!"

"I AM NOT UGLY!" Skeleta screamed. She placed her hand against Supergirl's face, releasing a bolt of lightning.

The impact and intensity of the bolt knocked Supergirl out of Skeleta's hand, sending her spiraling back in wide arcs and slamming through the plate glass window of an Italian Restaurant. The patrons of the restaurant ran screaming from the building.

From where he stood watching, Fred Danvers muttered to himself, "Who is she talking to?"

"She's not dead." The second ghost said, floating over to the window and peering through where Supergirl laid, smoke raising up from her face. "Not dead at all."

"Her face is only a little smoky. But, her face didn't melt off Vivia." The third ghost said. "You need to melt her face off. If she looks like you, people will think you're pretty."

"Yep. Everyone thinks Supergirl is pretty." The first ghost said. "You'd be as pretty as Supergirl."

"Pretty." Skeleta whispered, advancing across the street to the shattered plate glass window.

The ghosts danced around the opening, parting just enough for Skeleta to look in at Supergirl laying in the rubble, smoldering.

Lightning danced from Skeleta's hands.

"I'll be pretty." Skeleta whispered, picturing Supergirl's face a mirror of her own.

"FREEZE LADY!" Fred Danvers shouted, pointing his revolver at Skeleta.

The ghosts turned their attention to Fred Danvers, even though he could not see them, and Skeleta spun around.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your gun will never hurt me." Skeleta said, lightning lanced from her hand striking Fred Danvers's hand, knocking the gun from it.

Fred Danvers screamed as the pain lanced through his entire arm. His service revolver hit the street and skidded off.

The lightning began dancing from Skeleta's hands, "I will show you a thing or two policeman."

"Show him Vivia." The first ghost said. "Show him that you don't orders from him."

"Yeah, show him who's boss here." The second ghost said, "Make him regret the day that he tried to kill you."

"He was going to kill you don't you know." The third ghost said.

"It's only fair for you to kill him." The first ghost said.

"Turn-around is fair play after all." The second ghost said, "An eye for an eye. Do unto others as they would do unto you."

"Just kill someone tonight." The third ghost said, "You're such a wimp Vivia. You haven't killed anyone since high school. You need to get your groove back. That's what you need to do."

"She never had her groove." The first ghost said. "Nerds never get a groove. Not even in band."

"Especially in band." The second ghost said, "Kill him Vivia."

"DIE!" Skeleta said; she pointed her hands at Fred Danvers. As the lightning began to crackle all around her palms.

From behind her, Supergirl kicked her square in the back, sending Skeleta flying forward, landing flat on her face and skidding across the street.

Smoke rose from Supergirl's charred uniform, and her hair was sticking out in a dozen different directions, and her expression was not a pleased one.

"Lt. Danvers, get everyone out of here." Supergirl called, "I am going to try to get her out of the city and away from everyone."

"SO NOBLE!" Skeleta shrieked, blasting Supergirl with lightning.

Supergirl screamed, but held her ground, steeling herself against the lancing pain and tremendous pressure from the lightning upon her chest. The lightning tore into her flesh, running along her muscles and veins. In the flashing light the lightning put off, Supergirl saw three phantom shapes floating around Skeleta's head.

Letting loose a TK blast, Supergirl knocked Skeleta off of her feet. The lightning died instantly, but Supergirl immediately regretted the TK blast as her headache returned in full force and then some.

Going over to Skeleta, she noted the phantom shapes barely visible hovering in the air above the unconscious woman.

Suddenly the angel fire exploded from her eyes and her wings appeared fully formed. Through the angel fire dancing in her eyes, she could clearly see three grotesquely faced ghosts.

"Are you with her?" Supergirl asked.

One of the ghosts focused his attention on her, his grotesque expression filled with shock.

"She sees us… and she appears to be some sort of Earthbound Angel, although from what I understood all the Earthbound Angels were currently in hibernation." The first ghost said.

"She may be the New Earthbound Angel, prophesized by the Dark Beast-Lord." The second ghost said. "The fire coming from her burns like no other fire I've seen from an Earthbound Angel."

"She would make a much better companion than that melted face ghoul down there." The third ghost said, "Perhaps we should haunt her instead. Surely the mental anguish and terror incited from her would make us far stronger."

"Severing ties with Skeleta at this point would be difficult." The first ghost said, "We're so far in at this point."

"And we only have a few more years before her soul is ours." The second ghost said, "Whether this one is more powerful or not, I think it's detrimental to abandon Skeleta at this point. We've invested much time."

"But, with this one, we would gain far more power when we re-manifest in human form." The third ghost said, "And she isn't hideously ugly either."

"It would be nice to return in a pretty form." The first ghost considered, "We would have an easier time dominating men if we were in a pretty girl's body."

"And her power is quite terrific." The second ghost chimed in.

"All those in for abandoning the freak and going for the Earthbound Angel say aye." The third ghost said.

"AYE!" All three ghosts said in unison.

The ghosts advanced toward Supergirl.

"Oh, I don't think so." Supergirl said, zipping straight up into the sky, hurtling down city streets ten stories up at super-speed. A trail of fire followed behind her, dropping from her wings.

"Anywhere you can go, we can go faster." The first ghost said as all three came up beside her, moving at the same speed.

"That's good to know." Supergirl blasted the first ghost with angel-fire from her eyes.

"AAAAAAAARRGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The first ghost cried out as the fire evaporated him.

"That's wasn't nice at all." The second ghost said.

"You could have killed him." The third ghost chimed in.

"I think she may have killed him." The second ghost said plaintively.

"Maybe she did." The third ghost said. "I didn't think we could die.. again."

"Well," The second ghost said in exasperation. "Where else could he have gone?"

"Well, let's see what happened to him." Supergirl said, then blasted the second one with angel-fire.

It cried out, disappearing just as the first one had.

"I'm out of here." The third ghost said, turning to retreat.

"Not so fast Casper." Supergirl said, turning to follow him. "You're going to tell me who you are and what you're up to."

"I don't think so Earthbound Angel." The third ghost said, "You toasted my brothers. I'm out of here."

"I'll toast you too if you don't talk." Supergirl said.

"You have to catch me first." The third ghost said, quickening his pace.

Supergirl quickened her own pace, following after it as quickly as possible. The ghost continued to speed up, going faster and faster.

"SLOW DOWN!" Supergirl shouted, firing bolts of angel-fire from her eyes. The ghost avoided every one of them.

"I don't think so lady." The ghost said, "I'm not going up in smoke. Lord only knows what happened to my brothers. When you blast a human with those flames, the fire sends them to whatever afterlife they believe in and have invested themselves in. Our fates are unknown."

Supergirl continued to fire bolts at him, each puff of fire lightning up the dark skies above Midway City. From the streets below, people looked up and saw balls of fire that broke apart like orange and red firework displays.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Supergirl asked.

"I'm called Aclesta." The third ghost said, "And that's all you're getting out of me."

The ghost went spiraling down at that moment and merged with the prone form of Skeleta.

Supergirl landed her burning wings spread out fully behind her as the flames curled away from her eyes.

"Get out of her." She said.

"I think not." The ghost said, as Skeleta's paper-thin eye lids fluttered open.

She pulled to her feet, lightning dancing from her hands.

"Skeleta is still quite passed out." The ghost said, moving Skeleta's exposed jaw. "I understand her powers better than she does. After all, I helped create her."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Supergirl asked.

"I wouldn't expect an Earthbound Angel to understand. Your type is always busy trying to save the world and mortal souls from things like destruction and eternal damnation. Things like me. It's sad. Truly." The ghost said, manipulating Skeleta's jaw. "So much wasted potential."

"And your type is always too busy trying to destroy the world and ruin lives." Supergirl replied, the fire of her wings growing brighter. "I think that's more sad. Your existence is dedicated to tearing down others. Never really adding anything of significance."

"I'm a ghost. I barely exist. Stealing souls and causing havoc on this plain of existence is how I get my jollies." The ghost said, firing a bolt of lightning at Supergirl. "Don't be such a sanctimonious cow up there on your high horse."

Supergirl avoided the bolt, punching Skeleta in the face-sending the woman spinning away.

Skeleta landed on her feet, her haunted hollow eyes focusing intently on Supergirl.

"You're pretty violent and rough for an Angel."

"And you're pretty talkative for a dead person." Supergirl said.

Another bolt of lightning shot toward Supergirl.

Unable to avoid this one, the bolt struck her sending a thousand pinpoints of pain exploding through her body, sending her nerve endings on fire. She screamed out.

The wings on her back went out, the fire dying in a puff of smoke.

"DIE!" The ghost shrieked, adding a thousand volts into the bolt.

Supergirl could smell her skin and hair as they began to smoke.

Releasing a TK blast, Supergirl managed to knock Skeleta off her feet-as the lightning bolt fizzled.

Not losing a second, Supergirl called upon the angel fire-her wings extending from her back and the fire blazing from her eyes.

Fire shot from Supergirl's eyes, bathing Skeleta in flames.

The ghost screamed, ripping free from Skeleta, hurtling to the sky.

Skeleta collapsed, still unconscious.

Supergirl flew after the ghost, matching it's speed.

"Not so fast Casper." Supergirl said, the fire in her eyes building up for a massive blast.

"Casper was a friendly ghost. I'm not." The ghost said, releasing a charge of trembling green energy.

The energy struck Supergirl, sucking every bit of angel fire from her, sinking down to her bones and rendering her unconscious. Supergirl fell from the sky. As she tumbled end over end, she saw the ghost fly away, heading toward the mountains to the east of Midway City.

Supergirl managed to regain control of her flight only moments before smashing into the pavement of downtown Midway City. She made a sharp ninety degree angle, flying back to the scene of Skeleta's destruction.

Supergirl landed just as a pair of MSCU officers were loading Skeleta into a containment cylinder.

Supergirl walked over to Lt. Fred Danvers.

In a low voice only Supergirl could hear, he asked, "It looked like you took off after air." Supergirl replied, "There were some sort of astral beings here. They are some how behind all of this, although I'm not sure if it was a possession or what."

"Things just stay strange around you Linda." Fred said softly. Then louder, "We have her contained Supergirl. The danger is over."

"I'm glad to hear that Lt. Danvers." Supergirl replied, "But until that cylinder is sealed and the read-out on the panel says she's sedated and neutralized, I'm going to stay here to make sure everything is all right."

"As you wish Supergirl." Lt. Danvers said, "Just try not to get in the way of our crime scene."

"Will do Lt. Danvers." Supergirl nodded, crossing her arms and standing in place as Fred Danvers went over to his men as they typed in the sequence to start the sedative gas flowing through the cylinder.

Suddenly the thin veil of flesh that served as pale veined eyelids, popped open revealing wild mad green eyes.

"THEY'RE GONE!!" Skeleta shrieked. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?"

Her mad gaze settled on Supergirl.

"QUICK!" Lt. Danvers shouted, "Get her neutralized!"

"The cylinder is going through the final sequence-" one of the officers said frantically. "We just have to wait for the---"

Before she could complete her sentence, Skeleta opened her mouth and shrieked.

This shriek was no ordinary scream.

What sounded like sonic feedback issued from her mouth, and the intensity of it began building. Everyone in the immediately vicinity clapped their hands over their ears; most of them on their knees. Everything all around them began to vibrate.

"STOP IT!" Supergirl screamed, flying toward the cylinder where Skeleta was despite the horrible ringing in her head. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, even as the angel fire exploded from her eyes and back again, the wings bathing the entire street in orange light and tendrils of dancing flame twisting up from her eyes.

The sonic feedback sound stopped for just a moment, a deafening silence that swallowed all sound filled the air.

Supergirl shouted, but the sound of her voice was lost.

Then, finally, as Supergirl was scant inches from the cylinder, came the sonic boom.

For one moment everything stood still, everything frozen.

Then chaos reigned.

Windows shattered, filling the streets with glass. Cars were knocked out of the way, fire hydrants were sheared clean from the sidewalks, sending massive geysers of water pluming up into the sky. A flying car smashed into a restaurant, rupturing a gas line that ran throughout the entire first floor of a twenty story building. The explosion eradicated the entire first floor, bringing the rest of the building tumbling down. The debris and rubble buried the street.

Supergirl immediately set about rescuing people, pulling a couple out from the tumbling debris, just before it crushed them.

The cylinder around Skeleta shattered. Although the sedatives had begun to circulate through her bloodstream, she was not out yet. Skeleta staggered away while people scrambled to escape the destruction all around them.

"…the destruction in downtown Midway City is still being cleaned up. The last of the survivors have been rescued and taken to Midway Memorial Hospital on the South Side." Joan Raymond said, looking directly into the camera, while the ruined building stood behind her. "The building most damaged during the battle was this one-"

The cameraman zoomed in on the collapsed building.

"-which was home to the McDouglas Pediatric Health Care Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping poor children get medical care and attention. The director of the organization was contacted by Channel 8, but he has not yet released a statement."

The cameraman focused the camera on Supergirl and Lt. Fred Danvers, as Supergirl lifted several large chunks of concrete away.

"Supergirl has been here all night, searching for survivors and flying some of the more critical cases to the hospital directly. The super-villain Skeleta, who was responsibility for this devastation, did escape. The Midway City Meta-Human Special Crimes Unit has issued an all-points bulletin and label her armed and dangerous. Skeleta, real name Vivia Kerwin has been responsible for a rash of bank robberies across the mid-west the past few days, after managing to escape from Arkham Asylum in Gotham City several weeks ago. When reached for comment, the current administration of Arkham was unavailable for comment. You'll remember that when he took the position several months ago, he stated 'No more super-villains will escape.' And since, not only Skeleta, but Poison Ivy, The Joker, and several other less noteworthy villains have escaped thru Arkham's seemingly revolving door."

A picture of Skeleta's ghoulish face filled the screen.

"MSCU Lt. Fred Danvers states that she is extremely dangerous and if you see her, you should leave the area immediately. The Mayor has issued---"

Dick Malverne turned the TV off as Supergirl came into the living room from her bedroom. Her bedroom window was wide open and cold morning air filled the apartment. Dick watched in amazement as Supergirl morphed into Linda. He had just been dozing off on the couch.

"How are you?" Dick asked as Linda walked over to him.

"I ache all over." Linda complained, her headache splitting from Skeleta's sonic boom. She climbed onto the couch next to him, curling up beside him, wrapping her arms around him. "Just hold me and let's enjoy the silence for a little while."

"Sounds good to me." Dick mumbled, already drifting off, the sweet smell of Linda's vanilla scented shampoo filling his nostrils.

Both Dick and Linda were snoring lightly within ten minutes, by the time the sun had fully risen above the horizon.

Epilogue:

"It's just the two of us now." The ghost said, "The others are dead. Supergirl killed them."

Skeleta hugged her knees to her chest, her body shivering at the coldness of the cave.

She had wandered out of Midway City, heading into the forests south of the outlying suburbs-led back here to their hideout by the remaining ghost.

"We're alone. ALONE." The ghost moaned in agony, it's corporal form flickering with an unholy green light. "The Earthbound Angel must pay for this. We will make her pay."

Skeleta felt tears welling up beneath her paper-thin eyelids.

"Are you listening to me? Are you listening Vivia? Or should I call you SKELETA? Will you answer if I call you by that stupid name? SKELETA!!" The ghost shrieked.

"I'm listening." Skeleta replied, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I hear you."

"What are we going to do?" The ghost asked. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Skeleta said softly, pushing down the sobs, "But, we'll make sure that Supergirl pays."

THE END