Daughter, Lover, Superheroine Ch. 06

Barbara and Michelle shared a knowing look and laughed. Perhaps, Barbara thought, this was what it had all been for - so that the next generation could flourish, live better lives than their predecessors.

For her own daughter, she knew, any sacrifice was worth it. And perhaps, her contemporaries might have thought the same about the faceless millions of the future.

And so... measured against the progress of her daughter as a Superheroine... measured against the potential friends and allies her daughter could make once she'd left the nest... what was her pride as a single woman worth? She knew what she would have to do. She had already steeled herself to the task.

The problem now was to convince both Cindy and Michelle.

After Annette and Jim left, with promises to meet up again for coffee with Josh, Barbara asked Michelle to stay a while longer.

"You have to help me, Michelle," she pleaded, while Cindy was away seeing her new friends off. "She has to see that the need is real, that she has to learn from other people, and not just me."

"There's gotta be a better way," Michelle growled, looking away uncomfortably.

"I've tried my best to persuade her - but she's stubborn, as I'm sure you know," Barbara sighed. "Believe me, Michelle - I know my daughter. This is the only way."

For long moments, Michelle held Barbara's resolute, unwavering gaze. Then slowly, she nodded.

"Ain't gonna argue with that. You know your girl. And Barb... you got all my respect for this. I just want you to know that."

"Just promise me... you will not hold back. Not one bit, not one iota," Barbara said. "Hit me with everything you've got." She extended a hand.

Michelle grasped it firmly. "You do the same. Don't you hold back nothing."

"That's the plan. She has to see the both of us giving our all."

At that moment, Cindy returned, still chuckling from some joke the three youngsters had been sharing.

"That was such a nice way to spend the afternoon," she said happily. "I'm so glad we got to meet them."

"Yeah, they're good people," Michelle agreed, releasing the handshake. "I'll tell you about Jim's story soon. It's a good one."

"Cindy..." Barbara took a deep breath. It was time. "Cindy, would you sit down, please? We have to talk."

Cindy looked from face to face uncertainly, and complied. "Mom, is this about the training again? Well, I certainly would not mind getting a few sessions in with Michelle, like I've already said..."

"More than that," Barbara interrupted, gently but firmly. "You need to go under Michelle for a while, full-time - instead of me. And, as and when Ms. Liberty returns to her role as a trainer, I'd like you to train intensively under her as well."

"Mom..." Cindy looked a bit hurt. It pained Barbara to see her daughter this way. "Mom, why're you... I mean..."

"Honey... please understand. You have to try, ok, honey?" She felt the heartache keenly herself. "I'm not cutting you off. We're always going to be together, especially here. I'm not going anywhere - I'm here as long as you want me to be here.

"But we have got to face the facts, honey! I'm not the one to help take you further. At this point, we need Michelle to do this for you. You saw it for yourself, how I..."

Michelle laid a comforting hand on Barbara's arm, and Barbara realized she was shaking a little. She smiled gratefully at the veteran heroine, took a deep breath, and resumed. "You saw how I couldn't subdue the Supa-Troll decisively enough, to scatter the rest and break up the rave. I wasn't strong enough, or skillful enough, to make it a conclusive show of strength. You... you made me so proud out there. The way you beat them all off, while I could only watch, as I caught my breath back... Honey, you keep finding new ways to make me proud."

She blinked her sudden tears away. "And look at what the news reports showed about how Michelle did, or how Fusionette and Faultline did. Michelle was doing the work of ten Heroes - she shut down two chokepoints all by herself, and then had time to spare to run over and help the two of them finish their task. She's an incredible fighter, as good as one of the Phalanx, I'd say... and you'd be lucky to have her as your main trainer."

Cindy spoke. "There's... there's no doubt Michelle is awesome... but Mom, you're just as good, if not better! You just... you just needed to get back into the swing of things, and that Supa-Troll was huge, I think the drug's changed or something and that one was bigger than the one you beat the last time..."

Barbara could bear it no longer - she had to make Cindy stop giving excuses on her behalf.

"Cindy, listen to me. Here's what we're going to do - and Cindy, I've never asked you to do what I say, like I'm doing now... but please... please... do it. Listen to me."

Wide-eyed, biting her lip, Cindy nodded.

"We'll have to prove that Michelle is stronger and better than I am. We're going to do it. I'm challenging Michelle to a duel right now, a fight with nothing held back, in our Training Chamber. And you... you're going to be the referee."

Cindy gasped. Barbara plowed on. "We're going to fight one long continuous round, winner decided by a ten-count or a knockout. You'll make the decision, Cindy. You'll do the count, yourself, or decide when I've - when one of us has been knocked out cold. And at the end of it... I want you to do the victory ceremony. You'll stand between the two of us... and raise the winner's arm, and make the statement."

She had explained to Michelle the need for this apparent rigmarole - Cindy's background was in competitive combat sports, namely college wrestling, and she'd also dabbled in boxing. Such things had a deeper impact on her than for most other people.

Come to think of it, Valerie and Elena had probably been aware of that facet of Cindy's thinking, based on how that dirty pair had attempted to defeat and dominate Barbara and Cindy, in those ritualized wrestling matches and contests. It was possible that somehow, they'd profiled Cindy's psychology and decided that it was the best way to break Cindy's will. In any event, they had lost and failed, thankfully.

She, as Cindy's mother, knew that if Cindy were to not merely spectate, but also referee a fair fight... she would accept the outcome at a more profound level. That moment needed to be concretized - Cindy had to stand right there, in between her beaten mother and the victorious Michelle, hold both their wrists... and raise the other woman's arm to declare her the victor.

Only then would she accept that her mother couldn't be her sole trainer any longer.

Michelle stayed silent, arms folded, as mother and daughter argued heatedly, until at last...

"Alright," Cindy said, downcast. "Alright, Mom. I'll do as you say. And I'll accept the outcome."

She looked squarely at Michelle. "No hard feelings either way?"

"None whatsoever, kiddo." They shook on it.

"If... by some chance you do win... I'd be happy to learn whatever you want to teach me," Cindy promised.

"Be glad to teach, girl."

They proceeded to the Training Chamber together.

***

At some level, Cindy understood what her mother was trying to do, and why.

She had no real objection to picking up pointers from Michelle, who was one of the strongest and most inspiring women Cindy had ever known. She was assertive, no-nonsense, calm, tactical, disciplined and fearless - yet adaptable, easygoing, kind and supportive. She had ties to City Hall and the corridors of power, giving her insight into what worked and what didn't - but she was also from the streets, and she knew what ordinary people needed most urgently in their lives.

Even her mere physical presence was reassuring at a deep level. Cindy had grown up all her life in the embrace of a large, strong woman, and Michelle fit that description very nicely indeed.

In her mind, though... Barbara still stood tall, as the best and strongest woman in the world. Her mother epitomized everything a woman ought to be. And yes... her mother was sometimes humbled, brought to her knees... but that was only because she willingly bore the risks of danger and took on daunting tasks that would crush almost anyone else!

The important thing was no matter how often Barbara was knocked down, she had always, always stood back up, no matter how agonizing it was or how much strength it took. Her mother always had strength enough.

Every time she herself felt beaten down, she would draw strength from thoughts of her mother. It had never failed - whenever she fixed her mind on her mom, renewed strength would flood into her muscles, and the pain and fatigue would concurrently drain away.

No, that would never change. Her mother would always be first in her heart.

In fact, as the two women got ready for the duel, she found herself worrying for Michelle - their medical bay would be more than adequate, but she still didn't want Michelle sustaining injuries that were too heavy! Her mom's fists were more powerful than sledgehammers, after all!

To her mild surprise, Barbara went topless, stripping down to only a pair of tights - even going barefoot. And Michelle followed suit, even taking off her knuckledusters.

Barbara smiled in response to Cindy's questioning gaze. "This is so you know, my love, that it's just body against body, me against her, with nothing else affecting the fight."

True enough, this way there was nothing skewing the duel. Michelle stood on her side of the room and started to perform a stretching routine, seemingly not self-conscious at all. Cindy found herself giving Michelle an appraising once-over, and then comparing her physique with her mother's, as the two women stood across from each other and began their own pre-fight preparations.

It was the dark skin tone that made the muscle definition stand out more, she told herself. Michelle's greater height didn't mean much, and neither did her larger frame - that was just bone structure. Her incredible level of muscle definition did denote great strength, and her flexibility was truly impressive as well...

... but just the sight of her mother's nearly-nude body sent a pleasurable tingling up and down Cindy's spine, and caused her juices to begin flowing from within her. Those modest, but perfectly-shaped breasts, jutting out from those round lovely slabs of chest muscle... the broad, fleshy shoulders and the round mounds of power that were her upper arm muscles... that spectacularly developed eight-pack abdomen... those bulging cords on her mother's legs... the round, full calves...

Her mom was Battler Babe - with superhuman strength and toughness! As impressive as Michelle was in her own right, how could she be a match for Barbara?

"Alright," she found herself saying, as the two women came to the middle of the room and stood to either side of her. "I know we'll have a good clean fight. When I say break, you'll both stop until I say to resume. And winning will be by ten-count, KO or submission. Ok?"

Both women nodded grimly. Cindy felt herself affected by the mood. She had felt almost playful when she started her "good clean fight" routine, but now, looking at the two combatants, she felt the realization sink in: this was serious. Earlier, Barbara had insisted that Cindy promise to be nothing but absolutely fair when refereeing - there was to be no favoritism at all, no bias. Cindy had given her solemn word.

She wanted to kiss her mom for luck... but it didn't seem appropriate, especially since she knew neither she nor her mom would be able to refrain from turning the kiss into a groping, passionate embrace. So they simply shared a look of deep love, before Cindy stepped back and raised her hand in the air.

Both women dropped into fighting stances. For some long moments, none of them moved.

Then Cindy's hand came chopping down.

Michelle exploded into a dark blur of motion, closing the distance with a single forward lunge, her fists flashing out alternately in a rapid-fire combination - five punches in all, leading with the left.

Barbara barely got her forearms up in time, and the punches struck her guard, forcing her to stagger back a few steps.

Cindy stood, open-mouthed. Michelle's speed and ferocity had just been demonstrated to her for the first time, but more than that - she hardly ever got to see any opponent take the initiative against her mother like that, and put her mother on the defensive! She supposed she was too habituated to seeing punches from criminals bounce off her mom's mighty chest. Michelle's attacks were something else - it almost seemed as if each strike caused a kind of flash and sound, as if there was some special force behind it.

With a short hop, Michelle turned her body slightly, and her right leg swung straight up and out to the side. An opening! Barbara saw it too, and prepared to hit at Michelle's open side with a left swing.

It never landed - with lightning speed and precision, Michelle's right foot came flashing down in an ax-kick. The speed of it was testament to her muscle control, and the force with which her heel struck Barbara's jaw was simply unreal. Once again there was that strange flash of not-quite-light and that sound that was almost a sonic boom. Barbara reeled, her head rocking with the force of the blow.

Michelle landed, and pivoted on her right toe, sending a low shin kick into Barbara's right leg, striking the shin. Barbara's knee buckled. Michelle's left foot landed and immediately she leaned forward, shifting her weight onto it, and drove her right fist straight forward, in a perfectly-executed Statesman punch, that landed squarely on Barbara's chest, again with that flash-boom. Barbara flew back several feet and landed on her butt.

It took Cindy several seconds to recover from her shock. She rushed forward, as Michelle backed away a few steps. "Mom? Mom?!"

Thankfully, Barbara seemed only a bit dazed - she shook her head and winced, and clambered to her feet again, in an ungainly way. Relieved, Cindy stepped back. Of course, she thought, it would take a lot more than that to cause her mom any real hurt.

But now she had seen Michelle in action with her own eyes, and she could fully respect how the veteran fighter had gotten her reputation, and how she had shut down almost half the Troll rave by herself!

The match resumed - but this time, Barbara went on the offensive, stepping forward and throwing a right hook. Michelle ducked it, however, easily and gracefully - impressive, especially considering Michelle's height. But before Cindy could fully appreciate her agility, she rose in a counter, landing a right uppercut counter squarely on Barbara's unprotected jaw.

Barbara's head rocked back and she staggered, stunned. Without missing a beat, Michelle jumped and delivered a powerful right knee strike to Barbara's gut. The blow knocked Barbara down yet again, and this time she landed flat on her back.

What was that strange flash and accompanying bang that seemed to accompany every move Michelle made? Cindy had no time to ponder it - she rushed to her mother's side. Barbara was groaning and clutching at her abdomen.

It made Cindy's heart ached every time she had to see her mother's belly getting attacked - Valerie had inflicted quite a bit of pain on it, in both their encounters, and so had that Supa-Troll. In a corny way, Cindy thought of it as her first home - she had once been in there, after all! She loved how firm it was when she kissed it and rested her head on it. She loved how strong it looked whenever Barbara tensed it, or even when it was not tensed.

Now she was forced to grit her teeth and begin a count, since her mom was sprawling on the floor. "1... 2..."

At the sound of Cindy's counting, Barbara stirred herself and struggled to her feet hurriedly, wincing and gasping a little.

She was sure her mom could see the love and support in her eyes, as she signaled for the fight to continue. She was trying to be impartial, so she decided she couldn't voice her support of Barbara, but she was cheering her mom on in her heart all the same.

Barbara seemed more cautious after Michelle won the first knock-down - she hunched over and kept her guard up, inching forward cautiously. Michelle began to adopt a looser stance, and rock back and forth on her heels a bit. Then she began to circle around Barbara, forcing Barbara to turn to face her so as not to show any openings.

But Michelle feinted, and Barbara's guard dropped - Michelle's left foot flashed forward and struck Barbara's side, making the superheroine gasp. The black-skinned fighter followed up with another straight right punch.

Barbara was able to block it partially, catching it on her forearm - the blow skidded off her guard and clipped her face. She quickly responded with a left jab as a quick counter.

If she could land just one solid punch, Cindy thought, it would be over, surely - Michelle was strong, fast and agile, but if her mom could land just one super-strength punch...

Michelle parried the jab, with her right palm. And then, in an instant, her own left jab flashed out, knocking Barbara's head yet again.

How on earth did she do it, Cindy thought, without every bone in her arm breaking all at once? She had simply deflected the jab, which Cindy felt sure could've left some cracks in a concrete wall, with an open palm.

Michelle's left leg once more swung up in a side kick, and landed on Barbara's meaty side, eliciting a gasp of pain. But this time Barbara seemed ready to absorb the blow, and she lunged forward, trying to throw her arms around Michelle.

Yes - if she could turn this into a grappling contest, it would be over in a moment!

Barbara did manage to lay hands on Michelle's shoulders, but Michelle raised her arms in front of her, and then slammed her forearms against Barbara's. Somehow, despite the disparity in their raw physical strength, that was sufficient to knock Barbara's arms aside and break the grasp.

Michelle's follow-up was immediate, in the form of three blindingly-fast knee strikes to Barbara's undefended belly. Then, just as Barbara began to double over with the pain, Michelle pivoted, swerved, and was suddenly standing beside Barbara, hooking their legs together and bringing Barbara down with a leg sweep. Barbara landed with a meaty thud on her back. Michelle took hold of her flailing right arm, swung her body around, and locked in an arm bar.

Against any other opponent, it would have elicited an instant submission, or resulted in a broken arm. But Barbara had, after all, enhanced strength and resilience - she groaned with the pain, but was able to flex her arm muscles to resist. Cindy had a flash of déjà vu, looking at the scene - she remembered resisting Elena's arm bar just the same way.

"Go, Mom, go!" she thought, clenching her fists. "Flex that arm! Break out of it!"

Michelle, after all, did not have super strength - Barbara's arm began to bend at the elbow, removing the strain. But Michelle was able to release the hold and disengage in plenty good time.

She was already in a stance of readiness as Barbara rolled to her feet. Once again she leaped forward, but this time with an elbow strike - her elbow slammed into the back of Barbara's head.

Like a sack of potatoes, Barbara collapsed onto the floor, facedown.

Cindy recovered herself sufficiently to rush to her mother's side. Ascertaining that her mother was stunned but conscious, she was forced to begin the count.

"1... 2... 3...!"

Groaning softly and shaking her head slowly, Barbara got up onto all fours.

"... 4... 5...!"

With a visible effort, Barbara straightened up, still unsteady on her feet. Cindy took hold of her mother's shoulders - ostensibly to check if she was fit to continue, but she couldn't stop herself from using her hands to help her mom stand upright.