"You see S-Girl, it's like this..."

She heard Cutter's voice as clear as the last time she had seen him.

"... we really needed you there. I mean, having some sort of alien
blowing a hole through my chest wasn't a very nice way to go ya know?"

Linda felt the sweat on her forehead, but made no move to wipe it away.
She turned and looked, Cutter Sharp was standing in the middle of the
Leesburg Elementary School... surrounded by piles of bodies of dead
children. Dead smiling children, as if someone had taken the time to
pull up the sides of their lips after killing them.

"But Cutter hadn't been back to that school since..."

"The shooting" Mattie Johnson supplied, "And he never would have been
in danger in the first place if you had never came to Leesburg - if you
hadn't killed that poor girl to gain yourself a new life..."

"I never killed anyone! I saved her life! WE saved each other! That was
the only way we would have survived!"

"Tell that to the judge toots" Buzz said.

She shivered. She knew he wasn't really there. None of them were, but
hearing his voice again...

"I'm not responsible for any of it... I saved billions of people... I
couldn't save them all... Pa told me..."

"Pa... how about that?" she heard her father, Linda's father, exclaim,
"I guess you were all prepared to go on with your new life. Even had a
spare father figure waiting in the wings..."

"It's only a miracle that she didn't kill us before" she heard her
mother's voice say, "She pretended to be an angel you know, one of the
Heavenly Host. God does not take such things lightly. Her punishment
was long in coming... but it fell on us from the sky instead."

"No," Linda cried, "I was an Earth-born Angel. Wally told me... he said
that this wasn't my fault too... God said it wasn't my fault..."

"And what did your God say about me love?" Andy, the woman Linda knew
as Comet was saying. "Did he say that I had to pay the price for daring
to love you? Did he say that homosexuality was a sin and I had to die?
What did your little backwoods God say when I died? Tell me that love,
and what would he had said if he had seen what was on YOUR mind from
time to time?"

Linda stared at her, reaching her hand out to carress her face, "I wish
things could have been different. Maybe if things, if I, had been
different, it might have been good." she shook her head,"But they
weren't. Not quite anyway," she smiled slightly,"Not quite anyway..."
she allowed herself to breathe.

"What about me? Replacing me already?" Dick Malverne bellowed
uncharacteristically angry,"What was the point of it all? Huh? Could
you tell me that much?"

She shook her head," I'm sorry..."

"You're SORRY? Listen Ms. Angel, you might have some sort of protection
from On High - but the rest of us just get by - or try to. I tried to
be a decent guy. Just going around with a spring in my step and a song
in my heart. Do you know what sort of money I spent of sweaters? Or
horse food? That little pure white horse of mine wasn't cheap I can
tell you. I tried to be good, tried to live upright" he rolled his eyes
toward the sky," Hell, I tried to be straight for God's sake. And the
Lord knows that bit wasn't easy... But I thought I was building
something with you... I thought that maybe if I could just hook up with
a nice girl like Linda Danvers that maybe...just maybe... I don't know
anymore... I just thought that you wouldn't forget me so soon..."

"I... I haven't...forgotten..." she started to say, but Dick was
shaking his head.

"Haven't you?"

She started to answer, but felt the hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok there Linda?" a strong male voice asked.

She looked up from where she was kneeling on the floor, to see the
worried look on the face of Craig Morris. The handsome face of Craig
Morris, the one that smiled to see that she was ok. The one that was
here. Who was alive.

She rose to her feet with an effort. A faked effort, muttering
something about being lost in thought. After all, it wouldn't do at all
for Craig, for anyone at the her new job at the Midway Museum of Art to
think that anything was at all wrong with Linda Danvers.

She mentally shook her head, casting aside such thoughts. There was
nothing wrong with her... just with her life. It was time to look
forward, not back into the burning pit her old one had been reduced to.
It was time to rebuild herself, as both Linda and as

---

Maid of Steel
"The Past Bites"
Issue #9
Script by Gary Dreslinski
Plot by Barry Reese

---

Midway City STAR Labs

"I can't believe that they'd be shipping her all the way here..." Guy
Malrouse commented, "Wouldn't Gateway be easier? Or our facility in San
Diego?"

Dr. Alexis Reese shook her head with a sigh," New to this sort of thing
are we?"

"Not at all... it's just..."

"You think that the powers that be would, having found something worth
studying in the Pacific ocean would send that object someplace a little
closer to make it easier to ship?"

"I resent calling her an 'it', but yes..."

"The subject is an 'it' until we determine otherwise. She appears to be
a humanoid in appearance, but I would rather do some tests before
saying that the subject is indeed of female gender, much less actually
humanoid."

"But ... she spoke English! She said something about someone called
Blackstarr..."

"And that it was from somewhere called Argo City..." she looked down at
the chart in front of her, "Yes, that's all here Mr. Malrouse...
something falls from the sky into the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
speaking perfectly understandable English... and YOU don't stop and
wonder if there's more than meets the eye..."

"I just assumed... "

"I know you did, Mr. Malrouse... If you could excuse me though, I have
to go perform some tests... and you... you need to get back to your
unit."

"Could I perhaps stay and..."

Dr. Reese shook her head again, her close cropped black hair never
moving. "I think it's best that you go back to your unit and forget
that you ever found this subject. Let the professionals handle this for
now... after all, we don't go around telling you the best way to crack
shell fish now do we?"

"I don't much like your attitude 'Doctor'."

"I don't much like your presence here in MY faculity 'Commander' ...
please remove yourself before I have security do the honors..."

Commander Guy Malrouse nodded to himself as he turned and walked away.
He'd hoped to find a major breakthrough, something that would get him
noticed, maybe even promoted. And now it was being taken away from him
by forces beyond his control. Sometimes that was just how the ball
bounced.

He walked out the main entrance to the STAR Labs and didn't look back.
Whoever, or whatever Kara of Argo City was... whoever or whatever
Blackstarr was... they were someone else's problem now.


Watching him walk away, Dr. Alexis Reese turned back and walked into
the high security ward. She went into the lounge and sat down, hard,
relieved.

"Problems?" a familiar voice asked.

"You don't know the half of it..." she sighed heavily.

She looked up to greet Assistant Director Richard Chambers with a
smile," It's for the best really...we don't need people nosing around
here..."

"He was one of ours..."

"That makes it even worse. We can't let this thing out... do you have
any idea what would happen if people knew it was here?"

"Just 'people'?"

Chambers shook his head with a clever smile, "Of course not Alex...
what would happen if the DEO knew that we were holding this thing here
without their knowledge..."

"What does this Kara girl have to do with it?" Reese asked.

Chambers shook his head, "All I know is that it knew she had been
found... and wanted her to be brought to it. It wanted her to be close,
for whatever the reason..."

"And isn't that enough of a reason to send her as far away as
possible?"

"Maybe you're right Alex... but there are... people... who want to make
sure it remains... happy."

"At what cost?"

Chambers stared straight ahead at the wall for a moment, then turned
around and left with a brief wave back at her.

She noted his lack of answer as one more thing she had on her plate to
be worried about.

---

Downtown

She licked her lips as she looked around. So much to destroy... so
little time...

Satan Girl caught her reflection in a passing car. "Nice" she muttered
to herself. It wasn't the skin tight purple costume, with that dark
flowing cape... that had been nice she supposed - in fact, she'd kept
the top part of the mask, covering all but her blow job mouth, but it
hadn't been THIS nice...

She was wearing blue and red straps across her "naughty bits" that
criss-crossed in the middle of her chest with a large black mess "S".
Her shoulder-length blood matted blonde hair flew loose in the breeze.
She wasn't sure if the stares she kept getting were more from her lack
of costume or from the fact that she had started picking up parked cars
and throwing them into the air.

It really didn't matter.. a reaction was a reaction after all... lust
or fear, it was all the same in the end. Just another dead end.

She took to the air again, noting that more than a few of the mortal
men took pleasure from looking up at her. She let loose her bowels upon
them, sending her stream to the street below, smiling to see that a few
of them were still far from horrified.

"Give me Supergirl!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Give me
SuperGirl or I'll kill bring this city down around her head - just like
Leesburg!"


"I'd be careful saying that sort of thing around her."
Satan Girl turned in mid-air with a start. But it wasn't SuperGirl in
front of her... it was... some man with white eyes wearing a black
costume with a red edged white star on his chest. A white... star...
She thought for a half second...
"Starman" she finally uttered.

Will Payton smiled, "Nice to be remembered after all this time" he
said, "But I'm afraid I'm not going to go easier on you because of
it... Now, if you'd like to just come alon..."

He never finished his statement before her fist connected with his face
at blinding speed. He was knocked backwards, nearly loosing his flight
balance in the process.

He shook off the blow and looked quickly around... she could be coming
from anywhere... she hit him from above, driving him to the ground, his
descent stopped by a now flattened hot dog cart.

"Damn you!" an old man yelled, waving a pair of prongs in Will's face,
"What do you think you're doing... what sort of..." he yelled, but
stopped suddenly

"Yes - damn you Starman!" Satan Girl's voice came from the middle of
the vendor.

Will looked up from where he was lying on the ground, to see Satan
Girl's head peeking through a perfectly burnt hole in the middle of the
old man's body.

"Isn't heat vision nifty?" she laughed flung the man's corpse on top of
Starman.

He looked up at her, horrified. He closed his eyes and tossed the man's
body out of him. He rose to his feet with a simple gesture, he could
feel the anger coming to surface, he could feel the energy bursting
from his eyes. He glowed like a star, burning hotter and hotter... "You
MONSTER!" he shouted, "You're going to pay for your crimes!"

He unleashed his energy blasts at her, following them up with a series
of blows. She staggered back, a few inches.

"Not bad sport." she quipped, "But not really ready for the Justice
League now are you?"

Will burned hotter, the hottest he'd gone in quite some time. He let
loose on her... she held up her right hand in front of her.

The energy hit the palm of her hand, was was sent off in another
direction, in a high arc over the edge of the city. "Congratuations Mr.
Big Shot Hero - you just killed a bus load of nuns in St. Louis..." the
edges of her lips were fixed in a come hither smile," A real shame that
they never knew who was sending them to their God. Who knows - maybe
they would have wanted to thank you..."

Will felt himself shivering inside as he stepped forward her another
attack... he felt the doubt... and the anger that was burning him up
inside...screaming for justice...

---

Linda found herself tracing the numbers on the door... 242... apartment
242... she felt the numbers, trying to feel for their meaning. Did they
mean something new? Did they hold some sort of significance? Two 2s
surrounded the number that was them combined...

She opened the door, shaking her head. "Will?" she called.

But there was no answer...

242... two times two was four. Two minus four was negative 2. One and
One made two.

She looked around the apartment. It wasn't hers. Not really. There
wasn't much of her life left anymore. Nothing except... her eyes fell
on the angel sculpture on the mantle. She went over to it, feeling it's
weight in her hands. It was a piece of her past... maybe the only piece
she had...

242... the numbers popped into her mind... the number of angels in a
host?

"You're overthinking it" Cutter's voice said sharply, "Maybe that's the
number of people you've killed..."
"I haven't killed anyone..."

"Not that lie again..." Wally said.

She looked up from the angel. Wally was standing in the middle of the
living room.

"You're telling yourself you didn't kill those people again aren't
you?"

She nodded, "Yes... I tried my best... I helped save Earth... didn't
I?"

"See for yourself" he said, gesturing toward the far wall. The
structure fell from view, revealing the burning pits of death that was
all that was left of the rest of the world.

"That's not true!" Linda yelled, "We saved everyone! We stopped the
alien attack! We..."

"Did everything didn't you?" Andy said with a sneer, "But you couldn't
be there for your friends... We did this - we did that... But what did
YOU do Linda? What did YOU do? Did they really need YOU up there with
them in their shining moon base? Do the Justice League even care if
you're there or not?" she shook her head sadly," They got along quite
well before you joined - they're be around long after you're gone. The
truth of the matter is that you ran off to be with the Justice League
because you really didn't care WHAT happened to Leesburg!"

---

"The devastation in downtown Midway City continues Frank" the woman on
the TV was saying, "But Supergirl is no where to be seen..."
"Why would she be in Midway Jesse? And who is this 'Starman' who's
fighting this terrifyingly intrigui... menacing woman?"
"Good questions Frank" the woman on the TV was saying, looking down to
a sheet of paper in her hand. "A spokesman for the Mayor's office of
meta humans is denying any knowledge of Supergirl's presence here in
the city at any point in the recent past. No one seems to know why
this, beautif.., startling woman would think that the Maid of Steel
would be here. As for this new 'Starman' - all we know right now is
that it is NOT Opal City's Jack Knight."
"Thank you Jesse" Frank nodded, "We'll have more of this breaking story
after this message, as we continue to follow this..."
"Terror in the Streets" are the words that seem to rush forward on the
screen in front of her, in large menacing letters.

Kara of Argo City watched the screen, wondering how she knows so
much..wondering what she can do... she watches the screen... watches as
the it shows her how to get fresh breath, where she needs to go for
some good Italian food, teaches her how to feel spring fresh... then
she saw something in a blue and red... a picture on the screen.

"Superman!" she jumped to her feet, excited. "Take me to Superman!" she
yelled, turning to the mirrors at the back of the room, seeming to
stare right through them at the technicians in the back, "Take me to
Superman!"

"As we continue to watch these events unfold," Frank was saying, "the
mystery deepens... if she is indeed somewhere in this fair city - where
is Supergirl to protect us?"

Kara looked at the picture again. It wasn't Superman. There was a
blonde woman in that costume. A blonde woman that could have been her
older sister... "Supergirl" she said, hesitantly at first, then she
turned back toward the mirrors, calmly.

"Take me to Supergirl!" she said, with a cool air to her voice. "Take
me to Supergirl NOW!"

One of the technicians hit the alarm button, notifying the main lab
that the video stimuli was having unexpected results. When the chair
that hit him in the head when the glass shattered inward knocked him
back and well away from the counsel, he thought that it was a good
thing he had the presence of mind to do that, just before he passed out
with the word "Supergirl!" echoing in his head.

---

Midway Museum of Art

"So, how's she doing?"
Craig looked up from his desk to see Jocelyn Rogers standing in the
doorway with a look of concern on her face.
"Who?" he asked, trying his best not to show that he knew who she was
talking about.
"The new girl. Linda."
"Ah" he said with an exaggerated smile.
"Well?"
"She's... adjusting..."
Jocelyn nodded, a great deal of sympathy finding it's way onto her
face,"I hope she's able to do it. I don't mean to be talking out of
school here..."
"Please do..."
"But she's been through quite a bit lately..."
"We all have..."
"But have you had your entire life - your entire TOWN wiped off the
face of the earth by an alien invasion?"
Craig shook his head, "Now that you mention it - no. Linda seems to
have a good enough head on her shoulders. I'm sure she had more than
enough personality quirks to begin with, being in this field, this will
probably just bring a few more of them out."
He looked back down at the papers in front of him.
Jocelyn nodded, "You're probably right... you wouldn't happen to be
heading home now would you?"

Craig looked up with a start, "Actually I was thinking of staying a bit
later tonight. I heard on the radio that there's some sort of metahuman
fight downtown. I'd hate to get caught in the middle of that traffic
jam."

"...That's what I was going to tell you" Jocelyn replied absently,
"Just in case you didn't know.... I figured maybe we could go get
something to munch on while we waited for it to be over."

Craig looked at her blankly, "Thanks. But I really should be getting
this done. My boss is a evil taskmaster..." he smiled at her.

She nodded, "Yeah, no telling what she would do if she didn't get what
she wanted..." she said, and left the room, closing the door behind her
with a gentleness that belied her inner turmoil. She walked down the
hall and locked herself in her own office.

She plopped into her chair with a dull thud. "There's no telling..."
she absently muttered to herself as she looked through the department
records, "No telling at all..."

---

Downtown

Will felt himself going through the window. He felt himself going
through the brick wall. He kept getting up, and kept getting knocked
through something new.

The way things were going, he was going to be single handily
responsible for the destruction of anything smashable in the city.

He didn't care.

That wasn't entirely true. He did care... he wanted to move the fight
away from populated areas, he wanted to summon reinforcements. His very
being screamed for him to do it - but he couldn't... every time he
thought about it, the anger consumed him and he tried to pummel Satan
Girl again. It was as if there were some sort of... he looked at his
foe. She smiled at him, an evil smile with big pouty lips. "Don't ya
wanna?" she asked. But her voice wasn't hers... it was Linda's...

He shook off the shock, trying to blast her again, this time with a
smaller more concentrated blast of energy. She laughed it off, not
bothering to deflect it as she advanced to where he was picking himself
up from.

He tried to get air born again.

She moved fast. Faster than he thought possible.

She grabbed him, holding him face to face... body to body...

She still looked like Linda... "I know you want to.." she said,
whispering into his ear.

He shifted his own features, to match Satan Girl's "true" appearance.
"I'd rather be you.." he said, smiling an evil smile.

Satan Girl laughed, pulling him closer into an embrace. "I was hoping
you'd do that.." she said.

He struggled in her arms, but found himself unable to resist. Not just
that, he found himself COMPELLED toward her. He felt himself melting to
her embrace.

Wearing the features of Satan Girl, we felt the true bearer of the
face, looking like Linda, stick her tongue down his throat. He pulled
her closer, matching her oral movements.

Satan Girl laughed, and threw him away from her - tossed him away
straight into the concrete below. He hit hard, embedded in the street.
She flew down to him.

Satan Girl looked down at the helpless Starman, his features turning
back to his own. "What a handsome boy" she said, her own features
reverting to being concealed beneath the leather mask. "It's a pity..."


"It sure is" a voice came from above.

Satan Girl looked up with a huge smile.

"'Cause if he's hurt - you're going to pay double for it!" Supergirl
declared.

Satan Girl reached her hands down her body seductively, playing with
the strap between her legs, "Oh baby, you're making me so wet" she
moaned.

"I really don't feel like playing your sick little games" Supergirl
warned, "I'd suggest that you step away from that man and surrender
yourself before things get messy."

"But my dear... I LIKE messy" Satan Girl said, reaching an outstretched
hand toward Supergirl's position in the air. "Don't you know that by
now?"

Linda looked down at Satan Girl, debating the best form of attack,
wishing for her angel powers. They had certainly made things easier...
"But you didn't deserve them" Cutter's voice told her.
"Not NOW" she muttered to herself, "Oh god, not now..."

Supergirl, the Maid of Steel, screamed in agony, clutching her head.
The former angel tumbled from the sky onto the hard earth. She glanced
over to Will... he wasn't moving... she tried to focus.. tried to
move... but they kept screaming in her head...

The dead of Leesburg... all piled in the elementary school with their
lips curled up into a smile. They were laughing at her... they were
calling for her... They were wanting her... to join them.

Linda felt her head... felt Supergirl's head... being lifted up off the
street. She couldn't stop it. Satan Girl was kneeling in front of her.
She placed her head on her nearly naked lap, stroking her short blonde
hair, caressing her with tenderness. "I may be able to help them there
SGirl" Satan Girl said, delight dancing in her eyes. "I just might be
able to help them."

She put her hands firmly around Supergirl's head and started to
squeeze...

---

NEXT: Satan Girl vs. Supergirl. Bring marshmellows.

---

Author's Notes:

This isn't Barry. But you probably guessed that by now didn't you?
Kell's probably out pounding him into a pulp for asking that Dreslinski
fellow to take over scripting duties on this title. I'm sure quite a
few others will be waiting for their turn.

I have the plots in front of me for the next 3 issues... Barry's plots
that I will be adding my own touches to. Some will be small touches.
Some will be the kind of stuff that make you take a step back and cock
your head in that confused puppy mode that just makes you look
adorable. I'm not lying - go check yourself out in the mirror. Freaking
adorable...

After those 3 - well, who knows... Maybe after this issue no one will
even want me back<g>. Maybe I'll get drafted for the title. Either way
- this has been a blast writing.. It's been smooth sailing up until now
with Supergirl - I look forward to veering this ship off course into
that big iceberg off in the distance.

Write me at clauderains@rocketmail.com