Miss Megajoule/Cutting Strings
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
"You realize it's a trap."
"Uh, yeah. But I'm going anyway. I need to find out what her game is. I need to show she can't control me anymore. I'm not one of her puppets."
"Facing her alone isn't brave, it's reckless. What if you're overcome? Your friends..."
"I know. Look, this is something I have to do myself, okay? But I'm taking precautions. I'm a reserve member now, right? Well, I need a favor..."
One of the little benefits to keeping a secret identity, even in a city of heroes, was being able to hear what people really thought of your alter ego. Some days, however, this could be more of a curse than a blessing.
It had been almost a week since the Gamester's colorfully-wrapped presents vanished from the alleys and rooftops of Paragon City as suddenly and inexplicably as they'd first appeared. The half-ton of confetti left by the New Year celebration in Blyde Square had already been swept up and recycled. With no new crises having yet reared their ugly heads, it was a bit of a slow news day. Perhaps that was why the story of one hero's failure was getting so much play.
"... received this letter yesterday from someone claiming to represent the mysterious Carnival of Shadows..."
Reproduced in miniature, the gaily-decorated stationery looked like a postage stamp. Excerpts of the hand-written text were displayed in a more conventional typewriter font for the announcer to read.
"'Once again I have made Miss Megajoule a pawn in my games. Her pure heart was exactly what I needed for this task. She has done me a service by helping me root out a traitor in my ranks, and I want the whole city to know it. Bravo, my dear.'"
It was on the evening news at :23 past the hour. It made the City section of the Paragon Times. It was picked up by blogs. Tomorrow there would be something else to gossip about, but today it was on everyone's lips.
"... caught her a month ago, but she vanished right out of her cell before the arraignment. They still don't know how she did it."
No one paid any particular attention to the quiet young woman riding the Yellow Line, sandwiched between a middle-aged waitress and a stock clerk for Cooke's Electronics. She endured the crude flirting of a Baumton construction crew with the same polite, distant smile she'd worn earlier when commiserating friends had tried to cheer her up. She didn't need to be cheered up, she needed to avoid notice; and so she kept her head down and let someone else deal with the Hellions that jumped the turnstile at the Galaxy City station.
Her stop was in Skyway. Walking was both novel and frustratingly slow, but she forced herself to remain grounded and used her hazy recollection of the surface streets to avoid the places where Trolls gathered. It took a half hour to reach her destination, a dilapidated motel in the shadow of an off-ramp, but she arrived without being bothered by anything worse than sore calves. Finding the door she wanted, she knocked twice, waited a breath, then once.
Ring Mistress Josephine had been a striking figure, motley-clad but showing a lot of skin, with long black tresses falling over the right side of her masque. The woman who opened the motel door, her look of worry quickly changing to relief, had short bleach-blonde hair in a ragged, self-administered bob and wore shapeless sweats with the monogram of the local university. She might have been pretty if she didn't look so drawn and anxious, or if she'd been wearing even a little makeup. As it was, the paleness of her cheeks and the circles under her eyes were quite evident; still, she managed a smile for her visitor.
Julie returned that smile as she stepped inside the room, closing and locking the door. "Everything okay?"
The woman who had been Josephine, but who was now (again) simply Jo, nodded. "I made a sandwich from the groceries you left, and I kept the curtains shut, like you said. Actually, I just woke up about two hours ago. I haven't had a good night's sleep like that in... I don't know how long." She sighed, reaching down the front of her top and fishing out the amulet that had given her that peace last night. "She gets into your dreams," Jo murmured as she regarded its gold face. "And if she doesn't like them, she changes them. Sometimes she prefers nightmares."
"I know," Julie replied quietly. Then, as Jo continued to fidget with the medallion, she tched: "Hey, don't mess with it too much! You don't want to break it. Just let it be."
Jo flinched and shook her head, tucking the amulet back inside the sweatshirt. "You said Sister Psyche gave it to you?"
Julie nodded. "I don't pretend to know how it works, but as long as you wear it, it should keep you off her radar. I thought it might come in handy... I didn't expect how handy, until I ran into you." She reached inside her own coat and produced an airline ticket. "Here you go: first-class to Cleveland. I had someone square things with security, so you won't have any problems. And I also called your family to let them know you're coming. They'll be waiting for you at the airport."
"Thank you," Jo said, taking the ticket from her benefactor. "It's funny; when I came out here, I was hoping to be discovered. I wanted someone to notice me. I wanted to be someone else, someone glamourous. And now, all I want is to go home and be myself again. I've had enough 'glamour' for a lifetime."
"I understand." Julie smiled thinly. "I'll call you a cab, all right? Here's some money for the fare." As she passed the cash over, the other woman suddenly grabbed Julie's hands, making her blink in surprise.
"Thank you," Jo repeated, her voice shaking with emotion. "You've done so much for me, more than I can ever repay. You pulled me out of the darkest place I've ever been. This might sound corny, but... I've never been saved by a hero before."
"You saved yourself," Julie said, squeezing back. "You were strong enough to keep some part of yourself closed off, hidden from her. That's why she sent me that invitation: to get me to defeat someone she couldn't." Her comforting smile turned regretful. "Stronger than I was."
"You were strong when I needed you. And smart enough to see through her tricks." A brittle laugh. "Call it even?"
"I can do that."
They hugged tightly, then sat on the bed and talked of everything but the Carnival while waiting for the taxi to arrive. When it finally did, Julie bundled her charge into the back of the cab (along with a few things in a carry-on bag), said goodbye, and watched it drive away.
You thought you could fool me again, make me do your dirty work for you. But I beat you at your own game... and with any luck, you'll never know it.
She's free, and so am I. Choke on that, bitch.
