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The Knockouts (Maidens of Might #1)

by Sigma

Author’s Note: Yes, it’s another summer series. The idea behind this is to do a series of “filler” stories for Superia and crew. The things they got up to in between the bigger stories. All of these take place before Providence (Superia #10) so no spoilers to worry about if you’ve read up to that point.

I

The ringing of a cellphone pierced the silence.

“Ugh...wha…?” Tanya O’Donnel groaned and grabbed her phone. She saw the name “Wallace” on the screen and then saw the phone. “Shit!” She instantly jumped out of bed and answered.

“O’Donnel, where are you?!”

“I’m sorry, sir! I’m on my way to the office now!” She said. She hung up and hurried through her shoebox-sized bedroom. “Ah shit!” she cursed as she tripped over clothes on her floor. She was stark naked, her curvy body on display as she scrambled about her room. Her drawers were empty and her closet was bare. “Dammit!” she quickly ran out of her room, turned left, and ran to the small laundry room next to the bathroom.

When she passed the bathroom, a young brunette brushing her teeth poked her head out and then followed her. Tanya knelt down in front of the dryer and pulled out the clothes she had left in there. She quickly put the purple lace panties on and put her gray skirt on over them when she realized she was being watched.

“Heeeey, Tanya,” Kate, her roommate said. “Can you spot me 20? I don’t have anything for lunch today.”

“What?” Tanya said.

“Come on, Tanya. We don’t have any food!” Kate whined.

“You were supposed to go to the market yesterday!” Tanya said, pushing past her and back to her room with an armful of clothes.

“But I didn’t. You gonna let me borrow it or not?” A balled up 20 dollar bill hit Kate in her tit and fell to the floor. She picked it up, opened it, nodded, and walked off while Tanya put on a bra, blouse, and shoes. She ran to the bathroom, shoved Kate aside, brushed her teeth, rinsed, and was out the door.

***

The offices at INN were abuzz with activity as Tanya ran through. Sweat made her blouse cling to her skin and the sheer fabric made sure her bra was visible. Walter Wallace, her boss, looked up at her from his seat behind his desk, a very visible erection in his pants.

“You’re late, O’Donnel.”

“I’m sorry sir!” Tanya said, looking away from his crotch and the stiff boner he was sporting. Even then, she could feel the old man’s horny gaze taking her in as the silence hung.

“Well, make it up with this assignment. I want you to shadow those heroines, the team that took down the giant monster a few days back.”

Tanya looked at him in surprise. “Star Woman’s team?”

“Yeah. Get in with them and come up with a feature,” Wallace told her. “They’re getting a segment on the evening news and you’re doing the grunt work. Go.” 

“Yes sir!” she said, leaving the office. She breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled, thinking her big break had just come. She took a moment to fight back the excitement. If she did this, it was on to bigger things. “Okay...but...how do I find them?” she asked herself. She grabbed her cellphone and went on social media, using her account @TanyaO_Official, an account with a respectable 20,000 followers, and typed up a post.

“Hey interwebs! I need to find the girls who took down the giant monster and have a chat. Can anyone help out?”

She then left for her desk to prepare for her assignment.

***

At the team’s HQ, Delphi walked into the kitchen and took out her phone when it pinged. She looked at the notification and opened the post. Just as she did, Naomi, who was grabbing a soda, peered over her shoulder.

“Who’s that?” Naomi asked.

“Tanya O’Donnel,” Delphi answered. “She’s an intern at INN, but she’s been on air a few times. Fluff pieces, mostly.”

“Oh wait,” Naomi said. “I think I met her once. She’s got nice tits. What’s she want?”

“She wants to meet the team, for a piece apparently.”

“Do we do it?” Naomi asked.

“Hold off for now. Let me vet her and make sure this isn’t some hit piece. I’ll have to tell the others, too,”  Delphi said, typing up a mass text. She looked at Tanya’s post again. “We’re just ‘the girls who took down the monster’. We really need to come up with a team name, Naomi.”

“I’ll telling you, the Badass Bitches.”

“Absolutely not.”

II

“It’s been a day, O’Donnel. What do you have?” Wallace’s voice came in over the phone.

“No hits, sir,” Tanya admitted, “but I’m following a lead now.” She walked down cracked and damaged sidewalks, past devastated buildings while she talked.

“Stay on it. I want this story. Fuck this up, and you’ll be walking the beat in Sugar Town again.”

Tanya paused. She thought about the time she worked an assignment in Sugar Town. She asked the wrong questions and was run down by an angry trio of street walkers who stripped the young reporter and made her walk naked to her car at the edge of the neighborhood while various pimps, johns, and other onlookers jeered and shouted what they wanted to do to her.

“You got it, O’Donnel? Get some words from the super women or you’re back on skinjoints and 2 dollar fuck flicks.”

“Yes, sir…” Tanya sighed and hung up. She looked down the street, at the giant corpse of the behemoth called Daggermaw, where it lay. Men and women in hardhats, manning construction equipment went to work dissecting and analyzing the corpse. She looked around until she found who she was looking for, a blonde woman of average height in a pink track suit. Tanya approached her carefully, noting the gun holstered on her hip.

“Uh...Hi, Ms. Fox?”

Fox turned around and faced her. She was eating a bag of caramel popcorn. “Oh, hi. Hello. Who are you?”

“I’m Tanya O’Donnel with INN. I was wondering if we could talk?”

“You’ll have to go through our press office. Sentinel’s official stance…”

“Oh, no!” Tanya stopped her. “I’m not looking for a statement from Sentinel. I was wondering if I could talk to the heroines and it seems like you know how to reach them.”

“I do,” Fox said, eating popcorn. She offered some to Tanya, who took some. “But I can’t just make them appear with a snap of the fingers. They work with me, not for me, you know?”

Tanya sighed. “Yeah, I get it, but my back’s against the wall here. I really need to get this story or my boss is gonna shitcan me.”

“How old are you?” Fox asked.

“20,” Tanya answered.

“Jesus, you’re just a kid. This is what you want? To work in the news?”

“More than anything.”

“Okay,” Fox said. “All right, tell you what. I’ll point you in Iron Crane’s direction. She won’t want any cameras, but you go to Tokyotown after dark and she’s likely to pop up. She’s probably the most...I guess...put together of all of them,” Fox said.

“How do you mean?” Tanya asked.

“Well,” Fox started. “Superia curses like a sailor, Blaze has her tits out half the time and she’s always promoting whatever that streaming shit she does is, Thorn’s socially awkward, Hope...she’s smart but...not a lot of common sense, Bombshell doesn’t really like the press, Xanthe doesn’t really like people, Thera might not even be in this dimension and no one knows where Mantis is 75 percent of the time.”

“Wow…”

“Listen,” Fox said. “I love those girls, I do, but they are a ball of chaotic energy if ever I’ve seen one. I don’t question how it works, because it really shouldn’t. Crane will give you the least hassle. Trust me. She might even talk to the others for you.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Sure. Just one thing, don’t try to figure out who she really is. You cause the team any problems and I’ll use the full weight of the US government to make sure you never see daylight again,” Fox said with a smile.

“Uhhh…” Tanya laughed nervously. Fox just smiled at her until both woman snapped to attention at sudden yelling.

“Oh shit! Everyone clear out!” A worker yelled out. There was a panic, and people ran as something let out a high-pitched screech. One of the small creatures that had spawned from Daggermaw’s body erupted from a newly opened cavity in its body. The tentacles on its back waved wildly and it snapped at the people near it, making them run in panic before turned its six eyes on Fox, who had pulled her gun.

Tanya got away as Fox pulled out her sidearm and fired, but the creature weaved and moved like lightning, knocking Fox aside and chasing after Tanya, who screamed as she ran and the monster chased.

A tendril wrapped around her ankle and pulled her down, and Tanya rolled on her back as the monster jumped and pinned her to the ground.

“Ah! No!” she yelled, holding back the monster’s snapping jaws. It snarled at her, pinning her under its muscular bulk while its tendrils slithered up her body. Tanya panicked as she felt it slide under her skirt. Two more pulled her legs apart and the gasped as a third tendril penetrated her. The beast slobbered all over the young reporter, her body bucked with its thrusting, and she fought back feebly, trying to get free of its grip while it fucked her.

Another tendril moved up, ripped open her blouse and exposed her tits. The monster nipped at the soft, supple, pale flesh, seeming to chitter at the taste of Tanya’s skin. Her nipples were erect, and she moaned as the monster continued having its way with her. She could feel the monster pushing itself in deeper, taking longer strokes, and it crawled up her body with its tendril still inside of her. The next thing Tanya knew, a stiff cock, about 9 inches in length, hovered just above her face.

“No!” she protested, turning her head aside. The monster grabbed her face and turned it back around before forcing itself into her mouth. It thrust its cock in and out at the same time that its tendril pumped her, and all she could do was think of the sensations running through her body as it ravaged her. Despite being completely helpless, something welled inside of her, a perverse sense of enjoyment that Tanya could not ignore, and didn’t want to even if she could. She was completely at its mercy, a plaything to do with as it pleased in the middle of this city street.

She was growing wet, the tendril in her pussy never letting up as her body rocked with the motion. She gagged on the cock in her mouth as it pushed to the back of her throat, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she felt herself coming close to the brink. A strange calm came over her mind as she began to accept that she was now this monster’s plaything, began to accept that her body was no longer hers.

And then a loud crack, like thunder sounded in the air and the monster’s body jolted. It pulled out of Tanya, leaving her slobbering and her pussy dripping as it tried to run. Tanya heard a second thunderous crack, followed by a screech, and then heard a body hit the ground. She rolled over and saw the monster dead in a pool of its own blood, half its head missing.

Fox stood over Tanya holding a smoking shotgun. “Sorry. I had to go get something bigger,” she said before offering Tanya a hand.

*

Tanya sat in the back of an ambulance with a blanket around her shoulders. Fox finished talking to the medics and walked over to her.

“Medics say you’re cleared to go. You need me to drive you home?”

“No,” Tanya said. “I’m fine. Really,” she told her.

“Yeeeah, they said they’re surprised you aren’t hurt or anything.” Fox looked her over, noting the girl’s healthy curves. “By any chance are you an Aphr…” Fox then stopped herself. “You know what, never mind. You should get out of here, though.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need to change clothes before going to Tokyotown.”

“You’re still going?” Fox asked her.

“Yeah. I still need my story,” Tanya said before climbing out of the ambulance. “Any places in particular I should look for Iron Crane?”

“Her territory is the whole neighborhood, but she’s most active within a mile or so of the three old corporate towers. You know them?”

“Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. Thanks, Ms. Fox!” Tanya said before running off.

Fox watched her go. “I should snatch her up before Carter does. It’s not fair she gets all the Aphrodites. I wonder how many more are out there.”

***

It was night, and Tanya, wearing a tight t-shirt, denim shorts that hugged her ass, and white sneakers, walked the bustling, neon-lit streets of Tokyotown. After going back home, she did some research and learned the Iron Crane was a thorn in the side of the area’s two Yakuza organizations, the Igarashi-Kai and the Kiyota clan. Tanya’s plan was to go to known Yakuza businesses and ask around about her.

Online message boards that tracked superhero activity had rumors that Iron Crane and an Igarashi-Kai boss were involved with each other, so she thought she’d have a better chance at one of their businesses. With her phone’s translator app in hand, Tanya found a building down a narrow alley among bars and gambling dens. Tough looking, tattooed, Japanese men and women watched her closely, speaking among themselves as she approached the building, a nondescript place with a red lantern hanging above the door. She held up her phone’s camera and some of the words translated, saying “Massage Parlor” and “Igarashi-Kai.” There were more characters to be translated, but Tanya was happy that she found the right place and walked in.

A middle-aged woman wearing a red silk robe smiled when Tanya came in and greeted her.

“Ah, good evening,” the woman said with a bow. “Welcome, welcome. Please take a seat,” she said.

“Oh, I…” Tanya stammered. Before she could finish, the woman vanished behind a curtain. So Tanya sat down. She could hear tranquil music coming from speakers, and saw photos on the walls of various women, all Japanese, in various states of undress.

She sat idly, waiting for only a few minutes before the woman in the robe came back. Tanya started to speak to her until she saw two very large men with her. They wore suit jackets without shirts and Tanya could see the intricate, colorful torso tattoos on their bodies. One of them beckoned her to follow and Tanya, unsure what was happening, did. As she followed them in the back, the woman in the robe smiled and waved at her.

Tanya was led through the halls of the brothel, and walked past private rooms with transparent doors. Inside the rooms, men and women were engaged with the workers. Sex, bondage, domination, it was all on clear display as Tanya stared in awe, before forcing herself to look away.

“Phone,” one of the Yakuza said.

Tanya turned to him. “Oh, I…”

“Phone,” he said again and held out his hand. She handed it over and he put it in his coat pocket. They led Tanya into a room in the back of the building and let her inside. They directed her to sit on a black leather couch, which she did. The man who took her phone then left the room while the other stood watch by the door.

Tanya again sat in silence. This room was a sparsely decorated bedroom, and Tanya looked back, realizing the door was see through and that the room was like the ones they passed on the way. “Wait...” she said. She looked at the Yakuza by the door. “I think there’s been a mistake.”

He looked at her briefly but didn’t answer.

Tanya got uneasy after a few more minutes and then got up to leave, but the Yakuza got in front of the door and blocked her.

“I...no, this isn’t right. I’ll just take my phone and go. I need to find the Iron Crane.”

He glared at her when she said that name and she backed away, unsure what was happening.

Just then, the door opened at the first Yakuza walked back in, this time followed by three older men who took one look at Tanya and grinned before talking among themselves. They slowly surrounded her, looking her over, and Tanya noticed very visible erections in their pants.

“Wait, what’s happening?” she asked the Yakuza.

“They’re the clients,” the one by the door said. “You’re the white girl they requested.”

“What?! No! There’s been a mixup! I didn’t come here to...That’s not why I’m here!”

The three men laughed and one of them said something to the Yakuza, who laughed.

“They said they like that you’re roleplaying,” the one who took her phone said. “Keep that up. Make them happy, and there’s a bonus for you when you’re done.”

“Wait!” Tanya said as the two Yakuza left the room. Before she could run out, she felt hands on her shoulders, and two more on her hips. She turned to face the three old men, who looked at her with lustful gazes. One already had his clothes off and his cock in hand. He began stroking himself while his friends pressed Tanya against the door.

“Guys,” she said nervously. “There’s been a mixup. I’m not…” before she could say anything, one of them kissed her. Pressing his body against hers and pushing her against the door. She moaned into his mouth, and and he pawed at her tits, sliding a hand up her stomach and grabbing a handful of the meaty flesh while continuing to kiss her. He grabbed her hand and moved it to the inside of his pants. Tanya couldn’t help herself and began stroking the rock-hard cock while continuing to kiss the man. The naked man kept his distance, still masturbating in the corner, and the third man came up to Tanya’s side.

When she broke the kiss with the first man, he began kissing her instead, so the busty blonde found herself sandwiched between the two, their hands exploring her body. She reached into the other man’s pants and began jerking him off as well, lost in the sudden ecstasy of being taken by two partners at once. There was heavy breathing, the room began to grow warm, and Tanya could feel her mind slipping into a haze, overwhelmed by the pleasure she was feeling by being taken by two men at once.

They pulled her away from the door and stopped long enough to undress her before they got undressed themselves. Now naked, they lay Tanya on the bed in the middle of the room, and the two men climbed on while the third remained the corner, content to watch and masturbate.

One of them straddled the girl’s face, beating his cock against her lips before she took in his stiff length. The other got between legs, throwing one shapely leg over his shoulder before he gently slid himself in. She groaned around the cock in her mouth as she was penetrated, and the two men worked her, fucking her face and pussy at the same time.

The warmth and weight of their bodies, their groaning, all of it was driving the young, busty blonde wild. She could hear the third man, groaning in the corner as he continued stroking himself, and she moaned and whined, quickly submitting to them as they continued having their way with her. She couldn’t remember what she was doing there, why she had originally come to this place. The only thing that mattered was the pleasure, and submitting to these men so they could do whatever they wanted to her.

In the distance, Tanya thought she heard a series of loud thuds, but her mind was quickly pulled back to the moment as the man riding her face took several slow, steady strokes, while the other one picked up the pace when he pounded her pussy. She groaned, the pleasure overwhelming her, and she clutched at the soft sheets under her naked body. The man riding her face groaned, his body stiffened, and his warmed seed filled her mouth. Moments later, the same happened in her pussy, and both men continued fucking her even as their freshly spilled cum seeped out and onto the bed.

She then felt her own body tremble, and an orgasm took over, making her convulse on the bed as she cried out. After a few more moments, they both pulled out, their cocks still dripping. Tanya’s face and thighs were caked. Her eyes were rolled back in her head as she stared at the ceiling in a daze.  She twitched in her own juices, mumbling incoherently. As she did, the third man left his corner and stood over her. She took several strokes of his cock and came all over her, spilling his seed all over her face, tits, and torso. As if on reflex, Tanya lapped it, her tits rising and falling with labored breath.

*

Moments later, after cleaning up at a sink in the corner of the room, Tanya was dressed. The three men all lay naked an exhausted on the other side of the room, their sweaty faces flush. They waved and she returned the wave as she awkwardly left the room.

She turned away from the door and her heart skipped a beat at the scene in front of her. The Iron Crane stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. The two Yakuza goons were on the floor, unconscious. Tanya’s eyes scanned the woman’s thick, muscular thighs, and curvy tits under her black and white, low-cut kimono, but the heroine looked her up and down.

“Tanya O’Donnel?” Crane finally asked.

“Uh...yes ma’am…”

Crane tossed her her phone. “Come with me.”

They walked out to the front, and the woman in the robe bowed, desperately avoiding eye contact with Iron Crane. In the alley outside, more Yakuza were stretched out on the pavement, groaning in pain from the beating they had been given. Tanya looked on in awe.

“Why did you come here?” Crane asked. “This is a Kiyota Clan brothel.”

“The sign says it’s an Igarashi-Kai business,” Tanya pointed.

Crane looked up. “Did you use an app to translate that?”

“Yeah…”

Crane sighed. “I don’t think you gave it enough time to translate the whole thing. It says ‘Good Luck Massage Parlor. Igarashi-Kai dogs not welcome.”

“Oh…”

“Do you see the red lantern?” Crane asked. “That indicates a Kiyota clan business. The Igarashi-Kai uses white lanterns.”

“Oh…”

“Let’s go,” Crane said before walking off.

Tanya stepped over knocked out Yakuza and followed her.

*

Some time later, Tanya was on a rooftop overlooking much of Tokyotown. Iron Crane was speaking to someone on a small, handheld communicator and Tanya watched her. She couldn’t stop admiring the easy grace with which the woman moved, the way her muscles and curves moved. She bit her lip, feeling a bit wet, when Iron Crane turned and approached her. She gave her the communicator.

“Hello?”

“Ms. O’Donnel?” a distorted voice came in. “How are you?”

“Uh...who is this?”

“My name is Delphi. I’m the...I guess you could say, I’m the one who coordinates the team. Iron Crane and Agent Fox have both told me you want to talk to us.”

“Yes, for an interview for INN. Would that be possible?”

“In time, Ms. O’Donnel. We’ll be in touch.” The line then went dead and Tanya sighed and gave the device back.

Iron Crane walked to the edge of the building. “You’ll hear from us soon,” she said before jumping off the building.

Tanya shrugged went home.

***

Morning light crept in through the window but Tanya found herself awakened by loud knocking on her door. She got up and opened it to find Kate looking somewhat panicked.

“Tanya! What the fuck is this?!”

“What?” Kate grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her room and toward the living room. When they got there, there were two women on the couch watching TV. One was a tall brunette in a silver, skimpy costume and boots. She had her feet on the table and was watching TV while eating cereal. Next to her was a short, green-skinned woman with green hair wearing what looked like a dress made out of leaves. She was curled up in the corner of the couch while she toyed with her phone.

Thorn looked up from her phone and then kicked Superia to get her attention.

“Oh, hey, you’re finally up,” Superia said.

Kate stood to the side, arms folded, and scowled. “I just bought that cereal and she’s eating it all...” She promptly got quiet when Superia glared at her.

“Wh…” Tanya stammered. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re taking you to the interview. Get dressed so we can go,” Thorn told her.

“O...okay!” Tanya said before running off.

*

The three of them were downstairs in front of Tanya’s apartment about 10 minutes later, walking toward a parked car.

“So, you can ask us pretty much anything,” Thorn explained. “But Agent Fox is gonna be there to make sure you don’t ask anything that’s not for civilian ears.”

“Will I be meeting Delphi?” Tanya asked.

“Nope. And that’s not negotiable,” Superia said. “When we get there, we’ll…”

She was interrupted by a sudden surge of electricity before a swirling portal ripped open in the middle of the street.

“What the fuck…” Superia said.

A hulking figure emerged moments later. It was a tall, muscular, anthropomorphic pig man. His right arm was made of metal, and clutched a massive blade. Wrapped around his left arm was a chain that ended in a heavy iron ball. Two large, bloodstained tusks protruded from his face and his hardened body bore countless battle scars. He snorted and looked around before fixing his beady black eyes on Superia and Thorn.

“Ah! Finally! I have returned to this wretched ball of dirt to do battle with the warrior queens who felled the great Daggermaw. Prepare yourselves!”

“A talking fucking pig?” Superia said, looking to Thorn, who just shrugged at her. “Who the hell are you?!” Superia asked.

“I am the War-Hog! Now, face me in glorious battle!” He said, swinging the metal ball at his side.

“You know what?” Superia said, turning to Tanya. “Record this.” She cracked her knuckles and approached the War-Hog.

Tanya and Thorn then jumped when the War-Hog hit Superia with the ball and sent her flying into the side of the car, which buckled on impact. Superia slumped to the ground among the broken glass.

“God dammit, Bonehead…” Thorn said. “Get it together.”

Superia groaned and rolled over, before reaching out and untying Thorn’s shoe. “Your shoe’s untied pipsqueak…” she grunted before getting up and going on the attack.

“...I fucking hate you…” Thorn said before bending down to tie her shoe. She looked over at Tanya. “Hey! Don’t you write that down!”

Tanya yelped and put her pad and pencil away.

*

An hour later, the street was in tatters, and over the course of that time, all of the other heroines had shown up when the War-Hog proved to be a much bigger problem than anyone realized. Bombshell, Mantis, Thera, Iron Crane, Blaze, Hope, and Xanthe were all there, battered and beaten, but the War-Hog had finally been subdued by a team effort. Tanya had gotten as much of the battle as she could before her phone’s battery died, and she stood there, watching with glee as Sentinel contained the threat and carted him off. 

The team was convening and Tanya approached the women sheepishly. “Uh...hi…”

They all turned to face her, their tattered costumes showing off their naked curves. Tanya took out a small, handheld recorder and held it up. “Can I get a statement following your victory.”

They all looked at each other, waiting to see who would talk first.

“I’m fucking starving,” Bombshell said. “Let’s do this over lunch.”

“I really want bacon for some reason,” Blaze said.

III

“I can’t believe I’m saying it, O’Donnel, but this was excellent work,” Wallace said, after having gone over her notes and footage. It had been a day since the battle against the War-Hog. “Clean this up and we’ll get it on air tonight.

Tanya’s face lit up. “Really?!”

“Yes,” he said. “What do these girls call themselves?”

“Oh! So, they were workshopping team names while we ate, but they couldn’t agree to anything. Superia kept insisting on The Knockouts. Some other names were The Battle Sisters, Delta Watch, The Tempest – I really like that one, The She Legion – I’m not so fond of that one, and The Valkyries.”

“No, to all of those,” Wallace said. “A lot of those sound like sports teams, or something out of a fucking video game. No, these girls need something catchy. A name people will remember.” He leaned back in his chair and thought on it. “All right, when we run the segment tonight, we’ll call it ‘Delta City’s Maidens of Might Save the Day Again.”

“Uh...okay…” Tanya said.

“I’m a fuckin’ genius,” Wallace grinned.

*

That night, the team all sat in front of the TV in HQ’s common area as the segment came on.

“What the fuck…?” Naomi said. “...Maidens of Might? That’s a terrible fucking name!”

“I don’t think it’s so bad…” Asa responded.

“No, Naomi’s right,” Lea said. “It sucks. Let’s go down to INN and beat up whoever made that decision.”

“I dunno, it’s got a certain catchiness,” Madeline said.

“I like it,” Korina said. “Xanthe hates it, though.”

“It’s whatever…” Rebecca said.

“I already got the name on the social media!” Cindy beamed, looking up from her phone. “Everyone follow @MaidnsofMight.”

“Cindy…” Veronica said, looking at her phone. “You spelled it wrong. You forgot the E.”

“Oh crap!”

“I still think ‘The Tempest’ was best,” Thera chimed in.

Delphi simply got up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Naomi asked.

“To trademark the name,” Delphi said. “It might not be ideal, but Madeline is right. It’s catchy. We can make money from it.”

“So we’re stuck with the name?”

“You can wipe your eyes with a crisp hundred dollar bill, Naomi,” Delphi told her. “Good work out there today, Maidens.”

The End