Anthology Two Presents
Mysteria:
"Dark Savior"
By James Queally

Neil Ashwood went through his usual morning duties, sorting through files, rapidly tapping away at the keyboard in front of him, and diverting all phone calls away from Victoria Burke's office. Whatever the reason for the pleasant mood she had been in the past few days, it had faded rapidly into obscurity. She had saved her best screeches for today. A shrill dry scream that rivaled an air raid siren had pierced his ears an hour ago when he had placed two sugars and one cream in her coffee, after she had clearly demanded one sugar. Then just a few moments ago a call from Michael Manly came through and Victoria allowed the true she-devil within to come out. After quickly disposing of the former host of The Manly Side, she tore into Neil about how she loathed the man, and the only calls she wanted were from Jack Crowley.

"Do you understand Mr. Ashwood? I wouldn't want to have to fire another assistant this week?" A completely livid Victoria Burke shrieked.

"Yes, ma'am" he meekly responded. As she turned around he simply muttered under his breath "Must be that time of the month."

Victoria Burke spun around on her heels, and her eyes burnt a hole through the simple secretary. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes for a moment, as if that would somehow subside the frustration.

"You have a child, Ashwood. Need I remind you she will have to eat. That might be difficult if you're out of a job!" Her teeth were grinding together so hard that her molars were threatening to fracture under the pressure. Her eyes seemed to be leaking with pure rage and frustration.

Victoria turned back with her purple dress waving in the stale winds of the office building air conditioning and stormed off. She slammed her office doors so hard that one of the soulless decorative paintings that lined the marble walls of the office crashed to the ground and shattered.

* * *

"I hate this time of the month!" Victoria Burke thought as she returned to her office, and sped off to the back of her desk.

Being a corporate executive was a very demanding job, and one she simply didn't have the patience for today. She sat down and began to stare at the file that was opened on her computer; the column of names which made up the prospective guilty. A few days ago, two unknown assailants had attacked Victoria Burke, one in her office, and one on the street outside. She knew she had made some enemies in her life, but which one of them had the resources and the extremely large fortitude to attack the head of a major company? She looked at the laundry list again:

Jack Crowley.
Neil Ashwood.
Ashwood's Wife.
Someone inside the company.

She pressed her fingers to her temples and began to contemplate each name on the list. Ashwood or his wife had the motive, Victoria was a very demanding boss, and Neil's hectic work schedule probably put a strain on their marriage. Factoring in that Victoria treated Neil like dirt; he had some very good personal incentive to get rid of her. The problem was that the Ashwoods were a simple family, they were run of the mill Pacific City residents, and they couldn't afford assassins.

"Jack." She thought to herself. As she began to consider if the man who had appeared out of nowhere and elaborately waltzed his way into her life could be trying to kill her, a flash of light near her window caught her attention. The mid-afternoon sky of Pacific City was being corrupted by hot flashes of electricity and large explosions.

Victoria smiled and headed back across the room. She pulled the domino mask and fishnets out from the false drawer in her desk and quickly stuffed them into a bag along with the rest of her costume. "Someone's being naughty." She smiled.

* * *

Neil had decided that he'd better apologize to Miss Burke before she got really mad. He mustered up all his guts and cautiously approached the door. He moved to knock when the door flew out him, knocking him down with force. Neil held his head, which was now beginning to pound, the signs of more aggravation to come later in the day. He looked up to see the glamorous Victoria Burke dashing off again, the last to arrive at work and the first to leave.

"What a life." The personal assistant laughed as he silently went back to his duties.

* * *

"Mysteria," An angst-ridden woman whispered to the walls surrounding her as the Science Heroine flew by a building, oblivious to the world around her. "Oh, Mysteria, you really don't know do you? If I were to scream my name from the rooftops, or whisper it in your ear, you wouldn't have a clue as to who I am? When you finally figure it out, it will be far too late, as you will already be suffering for my pleasure."

She climbed out the window of the lonely apartment where she dwelled, and floated to the top of the building. She began to follow Mysteria, lurking within the shadows like a deadly hunter waiting to strike. The first step towards her vengeance had been taken She noticed that Mysteria had suddenly stopped, finding the place she had been searching for, and dive-bombed down to engage the villains that infested the area. The woman simply crossed her legs and watched from a rooftop well out of Mysteria's sight.

"Now the fun begins." She smiled sadistically.

* * *

Columns of electricity flew at breakneck speed towards the last remaining guards outside of the Gallery of Antiques. Staticy smiled as the guards bodies bent and convulsed. He took delight in their pain. Bush43 would be doomed this time. He was sure to come to the aide of the fallen police officers, only to find Triple Threat horribly out matched him!

Staticy quietly recalled the events that had transpired in the past few days. His salvation had found him at Bristol Park, coming in the form of a very odd pairing of men. This odd paring had brought with them limitless power, power that Staticy could now wield at his very fingertips! However, once again, his elusive arch-nemesis Bush43 had evaded him again. The last time that damned robot had interrupted their epic clash. Just a few days ago, he had Bush right where he wanted him, and then the blasted vigilante's sidekick had gotten in the way.

"No more escapes, no more alleys to hide inside of. He dies today!"

After his last defeat, Staticy had learned that backup would be useful, the kind of backup that 'Dick' had provided in his last battle with Bush43. Scouring the underworld he came across two other disheartened criminals who had met defeat at the hands of the presidential putz. Boombastic and Zoom Zoom had been more than happy to join in the vastly more powerful Staticy's plan to pull a job on the Gallery of Antiques. "So what if they don't know this is all a trap to lure out Bush, they'll do what I need of them when it counts!"

He realized that some of the guards were regaining their footing, and he sent a surge of electricity through the light fixtures above the entrance causing them to explode. The hailstorm of sharp glass would easily return the guards to their foetal positions.

"Careless!" His mind shrieked, "Pay attention, the hour of destiny is at hand".

Boombastic stood in front of the now bolted doors and allowed plasma to encase his body before he screamed and a smoking crater took the place of the steel doors. Zoom Zoom dashed inside, grabbing anything of value that he could. In a matter of moments they had pulled off a brilliant heist. Boombastic and Zoom Zoom grabbed Staticy as he stood there blasting away at the half-dead guardsmen.

"Enough, we got what we came for, let's go!" Boombastic snarled.

"No, Bush43 must pay!" The excitable electrician replied.

Zoom Zoom moved his arm at lightning speed and backhanded Staticy. "What's wrong with you? Bush! He's the one who beat all of us last time, leave him out of this!"

"Leave if you want, coward! Boombastic and I will become legends by ourselves!"

Boombastic and Zoom Zoom looked at each other and quickly decided that there compatriot was past the brink of insanity. Zoom Zoom decided to take off but before the speedster could make any ground, his stride was broken by an invisible boot, which swung down and in one fluid motion sent him flying back nearly 30 feet and into the side of a parked car, where he left a life size impression.

Staticy and Boombastic looked at each other dumbfounded, until Mysteria made herself visible.

"You idiot!" Boombastic screamed "I'm not going back to prison!" He deeply considered blowing up Staticy right there, and probably would have if Mysteria hadn't dived into his sternum and unleashed a flurry of punches that left him staggering.

Mysteria continued to hammer away at the black clad moron in front of her. She had no idea who these three idiots were, but they weren't putting up much of a fight. As she finished laying waste to the fool in front of her, a blue beam of electricity hit her in the back, throwing her off balance.

"Leave now, sweetheart, and I won't kill you. I want Bush43, but if you insist on dying you might make a decent warm-up." He screamed unleashing another torrent of electricity at her. She flew up to dodge it, and she began to loathe Carter even more.

"Great, now his half-baked loser villains are attacking me! Christ."

She dove down, moving quickly from side to side dodging the beams. Nervous sweat was appearing on his face as she got closer, and he realized he wasn't going to hit her.

"NEVER CALL ME SWEETHEART!" She screamed as she swooped down and kicked him in the abdomen. He fell back and doubled over in pain. She pinned him to the ground, forcing his chest between her legs. "I know you're probably enjoying this position." She smirked. Staticy nodded, and then ate a left hand to the jaw. "Pig!" She shrieked.

He looked up and as she went to speak, Mysteria noticed his eyes trying to wander up her skirt. Again she punched him in the face, this time jarring a few teeth loose. "You little scum!" She shrieked and began to fly into the air, bringing Staticy along with her. When she was about 20 stories up she screamed in his face, "Wanna fly, sweetheart?" He shook his head violently and she smiled. "Too Bad."

She dropped him.

Staticy fell rapidly, and as he rushed towards his appointment with the cement he prayed for God to forgive him. His last ditch prayers were cut short as the Science Heroine dove under him and stopped his fall centimeters from the pavement. She placed him down and watched the little punk's breath steady as he realized he wasn't going to die. He shook his head and launched a thunderbolt into Mysteria's chest, sending her sprawling.

Mysteria snarled and cursed herself. She was being way to careless. She'd allowed this pathetic low-level idiot to hit her twice now. She flew forward at lightning speed, this time deciding to lay waste to the bugger.

* * *

Boombastic began to creep up behind Mysteria as he watched her beat the living hell out of Staticy. He felt the plasma coursing through his veins as he approached her silently. Staticy would probably die in the blast, but it didn't matter much, it was his own fault anyway. He was about to perform his trademark yell and explosion when a gloved hand covered his mouth and forced him to stop the motion. A beautiful woman stood before him, and then slammed two fingers into the skin protecting his larynx, and he began to choke and sputter.

She placed her lips millimeters from his and whispered, "Naughty boy, you need a timeout."

She flew straight up and drove her knee into his neck and jaw, shattering bone and dislodging the pressure point she had just pressed. She returned to her position atop the roof. She watched as Mysteria looked around, satisfied with the carnage she had delivered to the three inept villains, and she flew away, the curtain closing on her rare daytime excursion.

The woman smiled as Mysteria flew away, completely unaware that her greatest enemy had just saved her life. "No appreciation, but no matter". She placed her hands on her hips and looked up into the heavens. "It will be so much sweeter when I kill you."

Her black lips curled into a sadistic smile, and she flew off into the evening sun.