Dear Reader, you may recall that last week we witnessed the origins of a different sort of creature. For while our focus has often been upon the beginnings of our humble (and not so humble) heroines last week we detoured to witness the rise of a dark soul, one unlike any other. We saw the death of Melvin Jacobson and the birth of The Chauvinist! You may recall his nefarious scheme to overwhelm the denizens of Liberty City with an army of unwilling women. Quickly striking down the defenses at the local university, his plan progresses even now into a full-scale attack on the citizens!
Yet two ladies may have something to say about this plan of his! Winging above the city a metallic woman streaks through the air. Below a floating sorceress races forth atop the roofs of the city towards a confrontation that may very well decide the fate of all of Liberty City's fairer sex. The pair's counterpart now stands at the head of an unwilling army that marches lock step!
"Hahahahaha! Join the revolution my brothers! Free yourselves from the grasp of your shrewish jailors! Take your rightful place as masters and kings of all that you survey! Become men and leave behind yourself the trappings of boyhood!"
The Chauvinists vile epithets ring throughout the streets, by some magic his voice is loud and audible even above the screaming, crying, and begging that resounds throughout the streets. His army carts off helpless damsels to face his wicked chains while the men struggle to resist the friends-turned-foe that even now drag from them girlfriends, mothers, wives, and sisters!
But look! Up in the sky! It is the winged metallic bird form of Ginny's suit! Now diving with the folded wings of the eagle, she hurls herself directly at The Chauvinist who pauses his ongoing diatribe to peer upwards as the glint of the sun on Ginny's wings warns him of the woman's weighty attack just in time! His chair of chains shifts to the side, raised by the hands of a hundred ensorcelled females.
Then Ginny smashes into the ground, the shockwave that emanates knocking over the spelled servitors. She does not pause for even a moment as from her wrist sprouts a blade that extends even as she swings in a motion that would surely decapitate The Chauvinist! But we can only say 'would' for the chains that formerly formed his dais now form a chainmail shield that not only absorbs the attack but also absorbs the blade itself!
Slowly, like maggots digging into a corpse, The Chauvinist's chains wind themselves about the blade of Ginny. Then his black fist springs forth as he leaps impossibly close to Ginny in a single motion. Almost as an afterthought, Ginny notes the chains recoiling in his wake, and realizes they propelled him forth.
But her ruminations may cost her! Ginny finds her suit depleted of the precious metal it requires and barely able to form a shield in time. Abandoning her stuck blade she leaves it to the worming tendrils of The Chauvinist's shield and strikes forth with a pair of much shorter daggers. They strike true!
However, as the dust settles, Ginny faces defeat. Her daggers did not penetrate the chains that cling to The Chauvinist's form. Now the same maggots that ate her blade eat at her daggers, and the low range of each makes it difficult for her to escape before other chains loop around her hands and pull her in close to the fiend's embrace!
"Foolish female! Fighting with such fervor but so little fortitude! For I am The Chauvinist! No mere girl may fell me. But with your powers you will make an excellent slave." Now one of those foul dark chains drags itself across our struggling heroine's cheek, still clad in metal for the moment. With a lecherous grin, The Chauvinist continues in a smug tone. "Perhaps I shall afford you the honor of being the first of my concubines. In time you may serve as an example of my strength to other women."
"Never!" Ginny spits back. But her resistance may soon be quelled as The Chauvinist drags her ever closer, curtailing her ability to fight back with the winding bindings!
"Resistance, my dear, is futile!" Then as his awful grin widens, The Chauvinist's chains wrap themselves about Ginny's neck and begin to squeeze. They drag her face ever closer to his outstretched hand, which now glows with the power to render her another member of his million-woman march!
"Not today!" Cries out an unfamiliar voice. Well, unfamiliar only to these two. For you and I, dear reader, know all too well the sound of Eldritch Maiden admonishing another amoral antagonist as she attacks!
A beam of pure white light surges forth and sends The Chauvinist sprawling, reeling from the sudden strike he is unable to stand as her second salvo slams him into the pavement! With a roar, he leaps back, aided by the whirling chains, to face the duo of defiant damsels that dare to defend Liberty City from his demonic 'liberation.'
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With the motion of his hand, he waves his army into the fray. The mob of hurls itself towards the two. Eldritch acts fast and sets forth a shield of blazing light that deflects the onrushing enemies for now, then she turns to her new compatriot, "I can't hold them off for long, we need to work together to get this guy!"
Ginny flips her hair, "Work with you? I don't think so! I had this fight locked up before you butted in lady!"
"Really?" Eldritch replies stunned. "You're going to act like a spoiled brat right now? Who even are you?"
Yes, dear reader, your eyes do not deceive you even though Hailey and Ginny's both do. For our pair of heroines do not recognize one another, and we can hardly blame them. After all, in the minds of both, the other is spending time in the basement of the school and not fighting.
And, of course, merely a cursory glance at either of these two out of costume would scarcely lend itself to thought of heroinism. Finally, the masks both prudently wear do their jobs with diligence, adequately concealing identity from the world and one another. But our ruminations will need to wait, for Ginny has a response to Eldritch!
"I'm Ginn... oh snap!" Ginny pauses, having not thought of a secret identity and suddenly afraid of revealing her secret to a stranger. However, her trepanation goes by unnoticed by Eldritch, who is at the moment consumed with maintaining her barrier. So she mishears her new ally and replies, "Ginger Snap?" Glancing up at Ginny's red hair she nods, "oh for the hair, I don't really get the 'Snap' part but whatever works."
"Hey! That's n-"
"Look, we really don't have time to discuss this Ginger Snap." Eldritch cuts her off. "My barrier is coming down in about twenty seconds. Think you can whip up those wings again and fly us up to a rooftop? We need to buy some time."
Sulkily, the newly christened Ginger Snap replies, "Fine."
Outside the barrier, a lone voice carries out over the crowd, "Hahaha! Foolish females did I not inform you resistance would be futile? Fall before my feminine forces!" Then he can only gasp as the wall suddenly winks out of existence to reveal a metal angel and in her arms his other foe. Together they abscond to a higher plane before his swinging chains can drag them back down to earth.
Then they alight on a rooftop located mere feet from his position, as if to taunt him, although from a distance they appear to be arguing. With a grin, The Chauvinist shouts to his forces, instead of continuing the conscription command, he orders them to march into the high-rise tower and bring back his pair of prizes!
Swarming the tower like a horde of beautiful ants, the feminine tide begins smashing through the doors, windows, and walls in an effort to fulfil the command of their master. They tumble over one another in desperation, surging through the building. Perched atop the roof, Eldritch and Ginger take a moment to concoct a plan of attack.
Exasperated and slightly out of breath from the effort of maintaining her barrier, Eldritch speaks in a hurried tone. "Look, Ginger Snap or whatever, you can't take him down one on one. I can, but not with his army mobbing me the entire time. I need you to create a diversion or watch my back or something, think you can manage that?"
With an arch tone, Ginger snaps back "Hey! I was just about to beat him when you decided to make that melodramatic entrance. Who even says things like 'not today' anymore? So last generation."
"Last generation? How old do you think I am? Wait don't answer that, I have a feeling our budding partnership will come to a fast end if you do." Eldritch exclaims in disbelief.
Ginger manifests a pair of metal eyeballs, and then rolls them in exaggerated fashion. "Like I'd even wanna think about how old you are! You're probably some ancient crone using illusions to appear younger."
At this, Eldritch's dagger appears in her hand. "Ohhhhhh call me a crone one more time! And I'll have you know that I don't use illusions."
Ginger's crossed arms unfurl, and sprouting out of her wrist is a miniature crossbow contraption poised to shoot. "Crone, crone, crone, crone, crone! There I said it now what are you gonna do about it lady?"
Morphing her dagger into a whip, Eldritch fumes. "I swear, The Chauvinist might be a big pig but he's got a point, sometimes you've got to smack a girl back into her place!"
But before she moves, her head cocks to the side as though listening to another voice. Visibly the anger drains from her frame, and she relaxes. Finally, she speaks again after a few more moments paused gazing in the distance. Although her tone is apologetic, her manner is recalcitrant.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But we need to work together to beat this guy. My powers can protect me from his mental domination. Yours can't so up close you're a liability. I don't really like the idea of taking on both you and him together, so if you wouldn't mind helping from a distance by keeping his minions away I would really appreciate it." Then she pauses again, looking in the distance, and then through gritted teeth she hisses, "Please."
Ginger can only gaze in astonishment for a few seconds after this exchange. From where did this measured response appear? What kind of impetus might have moved her so quickly from angry to amicable? Of course, dear reader, you and I may have divined Eldritch's secret already, knowing that this is but the outward sign of an inward conversation between our heroine and Belinda. Yet for the fiery Ginger Snap the sudden reversal is jarring, more so when Eldritch reaches out and proffers a hand!
Suddenly aware she may indeed have bitten off more than she can chew, Ginger shelves her pride and takes the hand. For an instant, the pair stands atop the city like a beacon of light against the encroaching darkness, an adjunct partnership driven by a desire to deal with the deleterious demons that bedevil their domain, Liberty City! Doubtless did any of the city's denizens see this détente, they would discover themselves drawn to the duo. Yes this diorama of -wait, what is this?
There are denizens of Liberty City observing even now! It is the hordes of The Chauvinist! As the pair argued, the tireless soldiers of his bewitched army climbed the long and winding stairs, now they burst out onto the roof and interrupt our pair's meeting.
"No time to work out the specifics, don't let anyone die and keep them entertained." Eldritch shouts as her whip extends impossibly far out into the street, reaching for the building on the opposite end.
"With what? Do you think I've got a stack of Cosmos in my suit somewhere?” Ginger snaps back.
But her retort catches only air as Eldritch has already begun floating atop her makeshift tightrope to the other end of the street. The only indication she hears Ginger is her shouted response that, through some magic, rises thinly above the shouts of the onrushing horde. "That's sexist!"
Will Ginger hold off the horde of The Chauvinist? Can Eldritch stare down the masochistic marshal himself? Or, will the chains that once imprisoned Belinda now have her descendent? Find out next week in… “Bound and Determined!”