Aquatica's Rematch

Sometime has passed since Alice’s melee with the cyborg Beta. Since then, Alice has spent her days off from the retail giant she works at heading to the gym. The heavily pregnant Alice always managed to turn some heads but she was driven to improve. Though her water powers are considerable, her physical ability is somewhat lacking. With this highlighted during her terrible encounter with Beta, Alice decided to work on her agility, dexterity, and to actually learn the proper way to throw a punch.

As Alice worked to better herself, Beta and her boss, Yvonna Strat, were hard at work attempting to unravel the mysterious “Aquatica’s” secrets. The business magnate, Yvonna, was careful to keep her less than legal and more morally dubious business adventures hidden. Thus, she, Beta, and a small team of her most trusted researchers began the arduous task of figuring out why Aquatica possesses the ability to manipulate water. The video footage Beta acquired provided little actual evidence, leading to the researchers, and Yvonna becoming frustrated. They vehemently dismissed Beta’s hypothesis that it is because Aquatica is pregnant.

Life continued on for Alice as usual. Long, boring days at work, hot summer nights at home with Rachel. This went on while Yvonna and Beta made plans at luring Alice back out. It took them a bit to think of a solid plan, one that would allow Beta to move unhindered by the local authorities and one that would allow her to capture Aquatica. This time, Beta would not go alone. Yvonna saw to this by hiring some local street thugs to assist Beta. With these local street urchins, Beta set off to provoke Aquatica, to lure her into the open and the easiest way to do so was simple; fire.

At around 6 o’clock at night, Beta began her preparations. A suitable target was chosen and she rendezvoused with her paid help. Alice, meanwhile, was at home cooking dinner. It was her night to cook but the tired, pregnant woman was in no mood for anything fancy. Instead she pulled a page out of the stereotypical cookbook of her people and made tacos. Alice is wearing a black, sleeveless athletic shirt that is just a little too small for her. A teeny sliver of mocha skin shows from beneath the shirt. She has pink short shorts on that hug her rear amiably. With her iPod in her right pocket, her ear buds blasting her favorite tunes, Alice happily cooks her dinner while awaiting Rachel’s arrival.

Rachel had been late tonight due to a last minute test at her internship that took longer than expected. Because of this, Alice had gotten a jump on dinner for she knew Rachel would be starving when she reached home. Alice pauses between her cooking to let thing simmer a little. Bobbing her head to the music, she takes a seat at the small kitchen table. Lifting up her shirt, the full-term lady scratches the top shelf of her pregnant belly. Shifting in her chair, the rock solid belly’s apex rises above the bottom of Alice’s ribcage, producing a tinge of discomfort. This discomfort is added to by her child, tossing and turning in her abdomen.

“Yes, I know, you’re hungry too but could you stop. I need my internal organs.” Alice says as she taps on the right side of her belly, trying to get through to her child.

“God, you know what, do I even have any other internal organs? I’m like all uterus in there. Fuck.” Alice laments as she drops both hands to the side and leans back in her chair with a deep, guttural sigh. Alice then rises and goes to check on the food. As she does she hears emergency sirens off in the distance but loud enough to overpower her iPod. It is now 8’o clock and the sun is finally beginning its descent into the summer night. Hearing this, Alice immediately runs to the television to catch the news.

At this moment, Rachel busts through the door, knowing that Alice is sure to suit up and attempt to help in some way. Beta has put her plan into motion and there is a fire at an apartment complex. Alice quickly runs to her tacos, turns the stove off, and then runs to dawn her superheroine getup. Rachel takes over the kitchen work as Alice prepares herself. After a few moments, Alice cries out for Rachel, once again needing her to help to fasten her boots.

“Alice, you sure you’re ready? Maybe you should eat first.” Rachel says as she ties Alice’s combat boots up. Alice is in the process of putting on her top, which she struggles to get over head.

“R-relax. I can handle this. It’s just a fire. If there is anything I can handle, it’s extinguishing flames.” Alice finally answers her ginger friend, after finally getting the tight fabric of her top past her breasts and onto the top of her belly. After Rachel finishes, Alice hops to her feet and finishes putting on her costume. However, instead of leaping out her bedroom window, Alice walks over to the kitchen. Rubbing her belly with her right hand, she reaches out and grabs a soft tortilla shell. Rolling it up, she takes a few bites.

“O-ok, so…m-maybe I am hungry.” Alice says with a smirk while chewing on the delicious tortilla.

“Guh, I never understood how you could just eat those.” Rachel says as she tends to the cooking tacos.

“Girl, I could eat tortilla shells en masse.” Alice replies as she takes a break from chewing. The sirens become louder, drawing Alice’s attention to the kitchen window. Rubbing her belly still, she smacks her face against the glass to get a look. Rachel rolls her eyes and opens the window for the hapless Alice. After finishing her impromptu meal, Alice reaches into one of the pouches on her left leg and pulls out her domino mask.

“Alright, time to go. I shouldn’t be too long.” Alice says with a smile to Rachel as she puts the mask on. Rachel nods and Alice climbs out the kitchen window and onto their fire escape. Seeing the firetrucks make their way through the city, Alice lets out a deep breath, lifts her hands high above her head, putting her fingers together. She cracks her knuckles while stretching her arms out high.

“Woo, here goes.” Alice whispers to herself before summoning a thin layer of water around her. She reaches back, closes the window and then rockets off, splashing water everywhere as she takes to the air. With darkness now setting in, Alice simply follows the smoke trail as she leaps from building to building. It takes Aquatica only about 5, maybe 10 minutes to arrive at the scene. The entire building is engulfed in flames and surrounded by firefighters and paramedics rushing to attend to the local civilians.

“No real police presence here yet. I guess I can move in.” Aquatica thinks inwardly as she surveys the situation. She pulls her hair out of her face, tightens the bun atop her head and adjusts the elastic maternity band on her dark blue pants. After situating herself, Aquatica pulls her hands in close to her waist, putting her elbows against her hips. She produces a massive, swirling torrent of water around her. With this strong defensive barrier, Aquatica rockets off towards the engulfed building.

People below see this long, thick jet of water fly across the nighttime sky and careen right through a broken, burned out window. Paramedics pause to look at each other, unsure what just happened. The firefighters continue to douse the flames but as Aquatica enters the building, she attracts the attention of another. Beta is in the crowd, wearing a trench coat with a hood. Her cybernetic eye zeroed in on Alice’s movement. She turns and nods to the thugs Yvonna hired who are flanking the other side of the crowd. They make their way towards the building.

“The second you step out of that burning disaster…” Beta whispers as she slowly drifts down a back alleyway. As she does, so too do the three hired helpers of hers. As this happens, Aquatica begins making her way through the building. Her powers quickly extinguish any fire that comes into contact with the aquatic barrier. She holds out her hands and blasts a huge stream of water down the hallway of the floor she’s on, extinguishing more fire. The pregnant heroine marches on, subduing the flames as she goes. Several firefighters reach the floor Aquatica is on and attempt to address her.

“Hey, miss! Y-you’re that girl from the news.” One of the firefighters says to Alice. However, she cannot hear very well through her watery shield so she disengages it. As she does, the water from her shield floods the ground, flowing past the firefighters. Without the water obscuring her, the men get a good look at the slender, pregnant heroine.

“What did you say? Sorry, I couldn’t hear.” Aquatica speaks out. She leans back a little, placing her right fist on her hip while resting her left hand atop her swollen belly. The firefighters pause and then look at each other, and then another one addresses her.

“We have secured the building and the residents. Thank you for taking care of the upper floors.” The man says to Aquatica. He walks towards her with his hands out but Aquatica takes a step back.

“You’re welcome.” Aquatica replies with a stern tone as she puts her hand out, gesturing to the man that he should remain back. This causes the firefighters to keep their distance. Aquatica then goes about finishing off any final hotspots on the floor but before she gets far, a figure crashes through one of the intact windows behind the firemen. They turn around just in time to be cold cocked rapidly by the trench coat wearing Beta. Aquatica wastes no time in confronting her assailant.

“You again!” Aquatica shouts as she takes a fighting stance. Shifting her left leg forward, bending it so slightly, Alice raises her left hand high to protect her face while keeping her belly protected with her right. She bends her knees slightly more, digging into a semi-shallow stance. Beta smiles and lowers her hood.

“You’re not actually thinking of fighting me are you?” Beta says with a bit of a chuckle. The cyborg approaches Aquatica with her hands down, no care for the stance the pregnant heroine takes. These words of Beta’s actually catch Alice’s attention. In that moment, she recalls her previous fight with Beta. No amount of combat skill and training can match the raw power of Beta’s mechanical limbs. Understanding this, Alice takes a few steps back and ponders another way to defeat the cyborg.

“Actually, no. I have no intention on fighting you!” Aquatica bellows as she brings both hands forward and floods the entire upper floor, pushing Beta, and the unconscious firemen out of the way. Aquatica then looks behind her, seeing a window; she hops backwards, letting her water propulsion move her through the window. Her spine just barely misses the window’s edge, her belly rising above her as she tumbles backwards. Tucked away in her shield, Aquatica descends several stories to the alleyway below safely.

“Ha! Fell for it.” Beta celebrates aloud as she comes to her feet. She had predicted that Aquatica would flee so she placed her minions in the back alleyway to intercept Aquatica. The plan goes into motion the second Aquatica lands in the alley. With a flipping motion, she lands on her feet and bends over, touching the ground, steadying herself. Before she can even stand upright, however, she is surrounded by the three thugs, each one brandishing a pistol. Aquatica, turning around and seeing this, gasps and pins herself up against the wall, her shoulders held high and her hands at her waist. Her stretchy belly shirt flings up all the way to the base of her breasts from the sudden movement.

“Stop or we’ll shoot!” The one thug yells as he points his gun at Aquatica, holding it with both hands. The other two turn to look at their comrade for just a second and this pause gives Alice a moment to think.

“Y-you won’t shoot me, or better, you shouldn’t! I bet that cyborg bitch put you up to this! If that’s true, you need me alive!” Aquatica shrieks towards the criminals. As this happens, Beta leaps down from the window. Slamming into the concrete with her mechanical legs, Beta pulls the one thug back, flinging him against the brick wall of another building.

“No shooting! No bullets in her belly, I already told you!” Beta screams out to the other two as their fellow criminal climbs back to his feet, staggered by Beta’s strength. The criminal reaches for his gun but while this commotion is going on, no one else notices; the sirens, the paramedics, the news crews, all preoccupied by the fire, the perfect backdrop for Beta to capture the mysterious, pregnant Aquatica.

“S-so, you wanna take me out on a date now? A-all you had to do was ask.” Aquatica says with a sassy tone, lowering her tense body a bit.

“Grrr, no, you need to come with me. We’re going to find out where you got your powers from…” Beta snarls as she approaches Alice. The cyborg’s feet clang on the concrete as they carry her forward. Aquatica takes in a deep breath and attempts to regain her composure. Staring into Beta’s eyes, one organic, and the other a blue camera lens, Aquatica begins to think.

“I don’t have to fight her, I can just escape…but…perhaps I should deal with her now. I mean, she humiliated me last time.” Aquatica ponders. She brings her hands up to her head and begins to scratch at her scalp in anxiety as Beta closes in.

“But not here, I have no room, there are people everywhere, I don’t need this. Hey…wait a second. I know!” Aquatica’s thoughts bring her to an idea, a way to best this cyborg. Looking back, she sees that the thugs have all lowered their guns and their guards. This is the moment Aquatica needs. Alice quickly lowers her hands to her belly and bends her knees a bit. This makes Beta pause.

“What are you up to?” Beta questions as she reaches out with her left, cybernetic hand to grab Alice.

“Oh nooo, I think my, haha…my…my, heheh, water is gonna break!” Aquatica says with a bit of laughter as she throws both hands up high, standing on her tippy toes, thrusting her belly high, and releasing a massive blast of water from her entire body. The rushing waves smack into all four of her attackers. The three thugs are knocked out cold as they’re pinned against the brick walls, pelted constantly by a continuous stream of water. Beta, on the other hand, is brought to her knees. She digs her left hand into the ground as an anchor. Seeing this, Aquatica then blasts herself up and onto the building behind them.

“God dammit all! Some help you bitches are!” Beta growls as she climbs to her feet. Beta then turns around and looks off to see where Aquatica ran off to. Beta shakes her soaked coat in an attempt to dry herself before kneeling down and leaping with all her strength. Smashing her mechanical fist into the side of the other building, Beta hoists herself up to the rooftop to pursue Alice.

Turning back, Aquatica sees Beta coming to the top of the building. Smiling, Aquatica propels herself forward again. Landing on another building, Aquatica puts distance behind her and the drenched cyborg. Seeing her target getting away, Beta kicks it into high gear and begins charging across rooftops, leaping across the gaps and continuing her pursuit. Each step from Beta cracks the concrete beneath her feet. As Alice leads Beta on, she thinks, she struggles to find a way to best the cyborg.

“Aha! I got it! Let’s see how dumb you are.” Aquatica says out loud as she comes to a brief stop. Alice stands tall, breathing heavily, waiting for Beta to catch up. As she does, Aquatica scratches the right side of her pregnant belly pensively. A soft kick elicits a smile from the mother, who refrains from taking her eyes off the pursuing threat.

“Good.” Aquatica says as she leaps off the building she’s on and dives towards an overpass. Avoiding the few cars that are on the overpass is not easy. Aquatica quickly runs out of the way of an oncoming car before jumping over the railing. As she falls, she holds her legs out to the side and puts her hands below her belly. Opening her palms, Aquatica fires a jet of water that halts her descent and allows her to fall gracefully to the ground. Walking towards the shadows, Aquatica hides herself beneath the overpass, waiting for Beta.

Having seen Alice make the drop to the overpass, Beta follows suit. Beta manages to avoid the cars but can’t seem to find where Aquatica ran off to. Looking around angrily, Beta’s cybernetic eye detects the hydro-powered pregnant heroine’s wet footsteps. Seeing this go all the way to the guardrail and there’s a footprint on top, Beta runs and goes right over the edge. Landing with a loud thud on the soggy concrete below, Beta begins to scan for Aquatica. Aquatica is lurking in the shadows of the underpass, taking advantage of the nighttime darkness.

“D-do not think you can hide…I will find you!” An exhausted Beta says as she pulls back the magenta toned hair that hangs over the blue camera lens eye of hers. Seeing this, Aquatica tenses up and holds her breath. It doesn’t take long for Beta’s eye to find a large, round hot spot with extremities.

“Ha! Found you!” Beta yells as the infrared sensor in her eye finds the pregnant Aquatica creeping in the darkness. Realizing her cover is blown, Aquatica fires out a huge blast with her right hand towards Beta before charging towards the cyborg. Beta scoffs, dodges the blast but is surprised at how fast Aquatica has closed in on her.

“Uh? She’s gotten faster.” Beta thinks as Aquatica fires another blast. This time the water nails Beta in the breasts, pushing the cyborg back considerably. Aquatica continues her advance.

“Time to try my new move out!” Aquatica shouts. Charging forward, she fires a stream of icy water along the ground in front of her then falls down on her ample rear. Riding on a sheet of ice, Aquatica folds her arms over her torso and creates another, thicker sheet of ice and slides full speed into Beta. Beta still recovering from the massive hit Alice scored on her turns back just to see the heroine barreling towards her. With a loud crashing sound, Beta doubles over and is thrown forward by the speed of Aquatica’s attack. The icy plank Aquatica used to ram Beta’s metallic legs with cracks from the impact.

“Woah, woah!” Alice blurts as she fails to adequately stop herself and rolls forward, during two summersaults before ending on her rear. The plank of ice slides across the ground into oblivion as Alice hisses in pain.

“Oh no, the baby!” Alice cries out as she looks down at her belly. She rubs it furiously, worried that she rolled onto her belly. A strong fetal kick hits her innards hard, reassuring the mother-to-be that her child is still alive.

“Oh thank God.” Alice says with a sigh of relief. Beta on the other hand, is on the ground, on her hands and knees. She struggles to get up.

“T-that was pretty good. B-but I won’t let my guard down again.” Beta says as she finally comes to her feet. Beta dusts herself off before making a move on the downed Alice. The cyborg charges at full speed but Alice is ready. Sitting on her bum, Alice leans up just a bit to meet Beta.

“Moron!” Aquatica shouts as she holds both hands out. There is a sudden flash of white and Beta is stopped mid movement.

“W-what…how!?” Beta shouts as she struggles to move within her now frozen solid trench coat. Parts of the soaked coat cling to Beta’s legs, weigh her shoulders down, and hinder her long enough for Aquatica to jump to her feet. Beta is helpless as Aquatica approaches.

“This is for hitting me in the head last time.” Aquatica says before pulling her right hand back and throwing it forward with all her might. Her first smacks rights into the left cheek of Beta, throwing her off balance and tumbling on her back and shattering chunks of her coat off as she falls to the ground. As Beta struggles to shrug off Aquatica’s proper punch, she superheroine walks back, holding her belly.

“Ok, ok, ok, too fast.” Alice moans as her baby continues to kick hard, pulling its mother’s attention away from the fight. Beta eventually sits up and tears off the ice-caked coat and then rubs her reddened cheek.

“Good punch but you still can’t stop me.” Beta proclaims as she jumps up and runs towards Aquatica.

“Grr, enough!” Aquatica growls as she ducks low. Beta’s left arm just barely misses grabbing Aquatica. Her metallic arm sails over Aquatica’s left shoulder as she kneels down, steading herself with her right hand. The heroine quickly lifts her left hand and jabs Beta in her own belly with a basketball sized wad of ice that Alice suddenly materialized.

“Guhhhh!” Beta howls as all the wind is knocked out of her. The ice ball falls to the ground without shattering as Beta backs up, holding her abdomen. Gasping for air and shaking, Beta spits up.

“Y-you…you…” Beta moans while leering at Aquatica.

“You think that hurt, watch this.” Aquatica says with a smile as she points with her right index finger to the ball of ice on the ground. With her left hand on the curve of her back, the indigo clothed maternal heroine focuses on the ball of ice. Beta looks down to see the ball shaking.

“Eat this.” Aquatica utters as she lifts her index finger quickly up. As she does, the ball of ice flings upwards, smashing into the still bent over Beta’s face. Screaming the cyborg flings backwards and onto her back yet again. The ball hovers in the air, contained by Alice’s unique form of telekinesis. Aquatica then brings the ball back down on Beta’s belly.

“Rah! S-stop!” Beta screams as the heavy wad of ice continues to press down on the injured cyborg. She lifts her head up, showing a bloody gash on her forehead. This makes Alice relent her pressure. The ball harmlessly rolls to the side.

“Y-you can control…” Beta begins to ask as she attempts to sit up. Rubbing her own belly with her right hand, she continues to cough and spit up.

“I can create water but I can also move water, all water actually, even ice. I’m not sure how far my range is but I’m getting better at it.” Aquatica says as she wags her finger at Beta. As she does, she dispels the ball of ice, letting it instantly turn into water and rushing away. Beta then rolls onto her hands and knees again, blood from her forehead drips on the ground.

“I can even make it evaporate really fast and even heat it up. You have no idea how easy it is for me to make spaghetti at home. One little nod of my finger, boom, boiling water.” Aquatica continues to boast of her growing powers, no matter how mundane they may seem. Beta finally manages to stand.

“S-shut up!” Beta screams. She then turns around and flails wildly at Aquatica, attempting to grab her but Alice’s week or so of gym time has paid off; she is able to move fast enough to avoid the injured cyborg’s attempts. Beta lunges forward but Alice steps aside, summoning a casing of ice around her right leg, which she uses to trip Beta’s metal legs. Falling forward, Beta slams into the ground. But before she can turn around, Aquatica blasts Beta’s cybernetic left arm to the ground with a huge blast of water that instantly freezes over, pinning her to the ground.

“No! No! This isn’t happening!” Beta cries out as she struggles to shatter the thick ice around her arm. She is eventually able to kick the ice, shattering it and freeing herself. Snarling at Aquatica, Beta shakes with anger. Battered and tired, bloodied and humiliated, Beta turns to face Aquatica. Hunched over, the cyborg struggles to catch her breath while Aquatica stands tall and confident.

“You lost. Your little trap was so terrible and you were dumb enough to follow me so far and still try to fight me. I, unlike you, just ride waves of water to my destination; you have to lug all that metal around. Your stamina is gone. You’re now too slow and too injured to fight me.” Aquatica boldly proclaims as she resumes her fighting stance. She nervously rubs her pregnant belly, wiping sweat off it with her right hand as her left hand is up, and ready to jab towards Beta.

“Though one would think with all the metal in you, you’d have some machine lungs or something to help with your lack of air.” Aquatica chides Beta more. Turning red with rage, Beta stomps forward, shattering the concrete beneath each step.

“Go…g-go fuck yourself. Stupid pregnant wench.” Beta curses Aquatica, still too injured to actually attack.

“Hey, don’t call me that. I’m twice the person you are, literally. I’ve got a little person inside me while you’ve got more metal on you than a refrigerator.” Alice replies as she stands up straight and cups her belly with both hands. Flashing Beta a sassy little smirk, Alice waits for Beta to make a move.

“I didn’t ask to be like this!” Beta screams back, taking a step forward. This causes Alice to turn red and take a step forward as well.

“Nor did I! You think I want to have a little 8 pound thing inside me, jabbing my ribs all the time!? Do you have any idea how many times I pee a day!? O-or how like none of my old clothes fit!” Alice screams back. Her scream echoes loudly from the acoustics of the underpass. Alice then clenches both her fists tightly and raises them up to meet Beta.

“Enough talk! You need to give me some answers! Why are you after me!?” Aquatica demands of the cyborg. Beta begins to laugh a bit before straightening up.

“Sure, sure, you’d like to know but first…how about your name, phone number, social security number, birthdate, and e-mail address, please.” Beta says with a shit eating grin. This further irritates Alice. Beta then throws out her left hand and releases the extension on it. Her hand flies out an extra two feet and attempts to grab Alice but the heroine is ready. She steps to the side, grabs Beta arm and pulls her forward. Caught off guard, Beta is thrown forward, barely able to keep herself up. Her momentum carries her right into the wall, smacking her right cybernetic cheek plate off the concrete, cracking her blue lens eye.

“No! My eye!” Beta shouts as she loses the ability to see from the eye entirely. She then turns around and charges Aquatica in a near literal blind fury.

“Guh! This is going nowhere!” Aquatica laments as her attempt to probe Beta for information fails. The heavy Aquatica takes a step back and creates a swirling mass of water around her right fist. She twists her hips and propels her fist forward, solidifying the water and literally coldcocking Beta in the organic side of her face again. Beta’s remaining human, blue eye rolls into the back of her head as she falls limp to the ground.

“Jesus Christ! Oh no, I didn’t kill her did I!?” Alice shrieks as she throws the icy glove away from her hand as she kneels down to grab Beta, who is face first in the muddy ground beneath the overpass. Alice struggles to roll the unnaturally heavy Beta over onto her back. Reaching out with her left hand, Alice feels a pulse at Beta’s neck and sighs.

“She’s still alive. Good…I guess.” Alice says as she wipes sweat from her forehead. She then sits back flat on her butt. She’s covered in mud from all the fighting anyways and cares little for any added dirt. Resting both hands atop her belly, Alice closes her eyes for just a moment and breathes deeply. However, the calm moment doesn’t last long as the sound of a cellphone vibrating can be heard emanating from Beta’s black and red pants.

“A phone…one would think her faceplate would be able to make calls.” Alice says with a giggle. She leans forward, crawls towards Beta and pulls the cyborg’s phone from her pocket.

“Yvonna?” Alice says aloud as she sees the name on the smartphone. Hitting accept, Alice pulls the phone to hear right ear.

“Beta! Where are you?! Answer me, did you catch the girl yet!?” Yvonna shouts through the phone, forcing Alice to hold the phone back a good four inches from her hear.

“Um, hi. Who are you?” Alice replies to Yvonna.

“Wait…you’re not Beta. Who are you?!” Yvonna counters Alice’s question with her own questioning.

“I’m Aquatica, the pregnant girl who just knocked Beta out.” Alice says with a smug tone and a big smile on her face. She then sits back down on her bum, rubbing the left side of her belly with her left hand.

“You! H-how did you…” Yvonna replies. The debutante is dumbfounded by the fact that her might cyborg was defeated.

“Well after she kicked my ass a few days ago, I had plenty of time to rethink my methods. But enough about her, you should probably call in her warranty. She’s uh…gonna need some new parts.” Alice continues on with her bravado.

“How dare you! How dare you speak to me this way! I am Yvonna S-sstttraa.” Yvonna begins to say on the other hand of the phone, realizes she is dangerously close to giving out her name. In her penthouse apartment, Yvonna stands, looking out the window, pale as snow. Her green eyes are wide and her lips are trembling.

“Yvonna Strat? The rich bitch who owns all those technology companies?” Alice says, realizing who she is actually talking to.

“God fucking dammit.” Yvonna says with a quiet, regretful tone.

“Hey, fuck you. You know what, go kill yourself. How dare you try to kidnap me and for what, for what reason could you possibly be after me?!” Alice shouts at the phone, pulling it close to her mouth and flipping the phone the middle finger with her left hand as if she expect Yvonna to see it.

“L-look, we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. I just want…to well, meet you.” Yvonna says, trying to smooth talk her way into prolonging the conversation, secretly hoping Aquatica will divulge some valuable information.

“Yeah, sure, you wanna throw me a baby shower?” Alice says with a sickeningly sarcastic tone. Yvonna rolls her eyes in disgust and curls her upper lip at this remark.

“W-why don’t you come on by my place and we can just have a little talk. I could make it worth your while…” Yvonna goes on, trying to lure Alice to her.

“Um…y-you coming on to me? I heard about dudes liking pregnant chicks but girls liking pregnant chicks, that’s…different.” Alice says, half attempting to berate Yvonna, half legitimately curious.

“You listen to me. Whatever weapon you have, whatever powers you possess, however you got them, I will have them. Just you wait. I don’t care if I have to dissect you, have to perform a cesarean on you, I will not allow anyone to have a weapon that I cannot possess!” Yvonna snaps back, losing her temper and throwing out sinister, sadistic words that send chills through Alice’s body.

“I-I see. Well…talk to you later, fuck face!” Alice says, realizing the conversation has taken a turn for the worst. Instead of ending the call, Alice throws the phone into the air, holds out her right hand in a gun formation.

“Bang.” Alice says softly as a long, thin shard of ice flies out from her finger, smashing the phone into pieces. After ending the unenjoyable conversation, a beat Alice rises and begins to make her way to the edge of the overpass’s concrete sides. She turns back to look at Beta and then summons her watery shield before propelling herself high onto the overpass. Pausing for just a moment as cars honk at her, Alice jumps again, propelling herself back towards her apartment.

“Stupid bitch.” Yvonna rattles off as she sees the call end on her phone. She then quickly makes another phone call.

“Find Beta, bring her to me.” Is all Yvonna says. She then turns off the phone and sets it gently on the minibar countertop in her penthouse. Tapping her fingernails against the fine marble countertop, Yvonna plots.

“This isn’t over…” Yvonna rumbles as she looks out the massive glass windows of her apartment to see the smoke rising from the apartment fire her failed subordinate started. The smoke represents more than just Beta’s failure but that Yvonna’s plans are going up in smoke.

Feeling pride in her abilities, Alice continues to make her way home. Coming to the rooftop of her apartment building, Alice removes her domino mask and unbinds her dark umber hair. Wiping her face with a palm full of water, she pauses and leans up against the chimney of her apartment. With a smile, Alice feels a few little kicks spring from her belly. Grabbing a small lollipop from one of the pouches on her legs, Alice can’t help but feel content.