Marvel Maid: The Curator!
By lawrenceliberty
Marvel Maid and Superwoman face a threat to the planet Vax that might just give Kayla a second chance to recover her lost home.

1
“You can’t go home again!” thought Marvel Maid (Kayla Jaal Kor) as the heroine gazed across a city called Cosmopolis on a planet called Vax.  Of course, Kayla didn’t really live on Vax. The black clad blonde was just visiting a friend on this planet that was so much like her lost adopted world Terra; however, she didn’t need super hearing or vision to realize that Vax was actually too much like the now destroyed Terra that she and her Cousin Kel (Marvel Man) had defended before its destruction at the hands of a cosmic menace called Starbreaker.
“It hurts to see how much Cosmopolis is like the Macropolis I loved so much! I’ve known since I was a girl that for some odd reason there are many planets across the cosmos that share traits of language, culture, and history even though they are separated by vast distances. I’ve been to several of them like Earth and Kormo.  I know this world doesn’t have versions of my friends Lana Langston, Perry Waite, or Jim Coalson or even a Daily Planet like the one I worked as in my secret identity of Lea Lindy but everything about it comes too close for comfort!  I’ll never forget my friends or poor Kel but I still can’t bear to be reminded of how much I miss them and how badly I failed them!” she thought.
The pretty blonde had led a complicated life although she was only thirty years old in Terran years.  She had been born on a planet called Ytterbium. When that proud world had met with a tragic fate, her scientist father Jaal-Kor had launched her to safety via a rocket he had constructed in the nick of time. Her older cousin Kel had also escaped in a similar craft created by his own brilliant father.  The two rockets soared through space and eventually passed through an inter-dimensional warp that existed with the core of Terra.  She was found and raised by the kindly Lindys who named her Lea.  She gained super human powers on Terra and used them as the heroic Marvel Maid.  Much later, Kel’s own ship was discovered below the surface of Terra and he emerged intact but lacking the emotional maturity that would have normally accompanied his chronological age.  In time he became the hero Marvel Man and found work at the same newspaper that employed Lea.  He used the alias Ken Clark and under Marvel Maid’s tutelage the older but less experience hero become a champion in his own right.
The duo had enjoyed many exciting adventures and had met other alien heroes like the Superman and Supergirl of Earth who greatly resembled them and shared many elements of their background as displaced aliens who protected an adopted world.   In spite of the peril they often faced, they were both super powered and almost invulnerable to any danger except for exposure to diamonds that originated on their destroyed birth world.  The diamonds were as deadly to them as a mineral Kryptonite was perilous to Supergirl and Superman.  Still, they had triumphed over every threat as a team and as individuals. That had all changed when several old foes including a group of exiled Ytterbium criminals whom Kayla’s father had transformed into pure mental energy and trapped in a dimension called the Mind Field had gained a grim revenge on the cousins by forcing Kayla to forget that she had any identity other than Lea Lindy girl reporter.  She remembered there was a Marvel Maid but she no longer recalled that she was in fact that heroine. During this period of amnesia, the aliens enabled two Terran criminals known as the Atomic Skull and Metallo to murder Marvel Man.  His murder was solved, the criminals were caught, and Lea regained her memories through the intervention of a visiting heroine named Superwoman (Luma Lynai).    While she was still mourning for Marvel Man, Marvel Maid was left adrift in the rubble of Terra itself after Starbreaker consumed the life force and natural elements of her adopted world.  Captain Comet and Prince Gavyn the Starman rescued her and defeated Starbreaker.
Now, Kayla who had changed her famous blue and red costume into a simple black leotard and slippers since losing her friends and home was visiting Superwoman’s home of Vax at the invitation of the older heroine. 
Superwoman (Luma Lynai) also had lost a planet called Staryl to Starbreaker years before but she had made a real life for herself on Vax and clearly the well-intentioned beauty wanted to inspire Kayla to do the same for herself.
Superwoman looked a little older than Kayla and like her guest she was a beautiful blonde who greatly resembled the celebrated Supergirl of Earth. Luma wore a brief white and green costume with a green cape and slippers.  She flew alongside her guest and tried to encourage her to move past her feelings of remorse and regret.
“Kayla, I miss all I lost when Staryl perished but I’ve made good friends here and I have work that stimulates me.  Being a teacher at the New Troy Experimental School is rewarding work.  I’m happy as Lisa Danvers and as Superwoman! I just know you can find some new purpose and some people to bring you joy here or elsewhere if you’ll just try!” she said.
Marvel Maid smiled back and said, “Thank you for all you’ve done. You’ve become like a big sister to me and I appreciate it.  I know what you are saying is true but I just can’t seem to forgive myself for letting Kel and all of Terra down!”
Luma shook her head and said, “I lost Staryl.  I feel guilty at times too but I know I did all I could to protect it from Starbreaker.  You did all you could do as well. Honey, I urge you to miss the people of Terra but honor them by doing something wonderful with your life!”
Superwoman was a caring woman who daily risked her life for others but she felt a special empathy for Marvel Maid since the younger woman was not only virtually her physical twin but they shared similar backgrounds. Luma had also been guided by loving foster parents on Staryl and used her powers first as a teen Supergirl and then as an adult Superwoman to protect Staryl.  Unlike Marvel Maid, Luma had never learned where she had been born or how she had ended up as an infant on Staryl. It didn’t matter she had been a true heroine all her life and even after realizing a weakness to yellow sunlight prevented her from joining her true love  Kal-El on his home of Earth, she had never failed to do her best for those in need.  When Starbreaker fed on Staryl, she had been imprisoned along with other alien heroes and heroes to serve as living batteries for the monster. She later learned the alien monster had used a fraction of his power to create a duplicate to transfer the power from Staryl to his own distant body. The real Starbreaker had never even approached Staryl.   It was for this reason that he had reserved the super beings of several planets as human energy boosters to feed his surrogate self until that being could merge with the original Starbreaker upon completion of its task. This captivity actually altered Luma’s metabolism so her powers now worked under any type of sunlight.   The same effect happened to the other alien captives.  She had remained friendly with many of them like Hyperman II of Trombus and Powerman of Juno.  Now, she wanted to do something to help poor Kayla but she was at a loss as to what she could do for the grieving young woman.
“You can’t bring Kel back but you can rest easy knowing we brought his killers to justice.   You can’t restore Terra but Captain Comet dealt with Starbreaker. Justice has been served.”
Marvel Maid nodded and said, “Captain Comet is a good man.  I’ve met so many kind and heroic beings but…!”
Superwoman said, “I know. I understand.  Suns of Staryl! I think I’ve found something to help us pass this evening!   Look up!”
Marvel Maid frowned as her blue eyes gazed upward and her telescopic vision enabled her to see meteors rushing toward Vax!
“That’s an unusually large meteor shower!” she said as she flew upward and matched Superwoman’s own incredible speed.
The two blondes exchanged concerned glances as they passed into space and saw the enormity of the crisis facing Vax!
They used their super speed and super strength to smash each meteor before any of the rocky objects could enter Vax’s atmosphere.
Kayla enjoyed using her powers and it felt good to release her strength in a productive way.  She was not certain what kind of future she could have as Marvel Maid but she was determined to help her friend as much as possible. She might think of herself as “just” Kayla Jaal-Kor now but by any name, she would be loyal to a friend!
She dusted off her black leotard and smiled at Superwoman who met her gaze but showed no sign of relief.  Kayla frowned as she saw what appeared to be a look of concern on her older double’s lovely features.
She whirled around and gasped as she saw a massive starship looming overhead. Its powerful warp engines had perhaps drawn the meteors into its path as it emerged from distant space.
Kayla‘s eyes widened in horror as she recognized the starship!  While her waking eyes had only looked upon it once, she often saw it in her nightmares.
“Starbreaker! That’s Starbreaker’s ship!” she thought.
2
Kayla charged toward the spaceship! Her lovely features contorted with rage as she vowed silently to stop this monster from hurting another world! She didn’t know how he could have survived his last defeat nor did she stop to think that someone else could be piloting his ship. All Kayla the Marvel Maid thought was that she had another chance to battle the killer of Terra and she would make the most of it. She would win this time!
Superwoman rushed after the other woman. She was not as fast as the slightly smaller Marvel Maid but she was a skilled heroine and she quickly caught up with her friend.
Marvel Maid never reached the ship! An unseen force field repelled her and sent her crashing into Superwoman. The impact stunned both women for a few moments.  When they recovered they found themselves back in Cosmopolis!
For the moment things looked almost normal. People were going about their normal routines unaware that the massive starship was hovering above their planet. Some well-intentioned citizens started to approach the fallen heroines but Luma smiled briefly and assured them that they were okay.
Superwoman helped Kayla up and asked, “Are you okay?”
Marvel Maid shook her head. “I’m fine physically! That was Starbreaker’s ship! How can he be back?”
Superwoman said, “I tried to scan the ship with my enhanced senses but it was too carefully shielded. Don’t be too certain that Starbreaker is back! From what you told me, he was definitely destroyed when Captain Comet tricked him into feeding on a particular energy source.  His ship was taken into custody at Kronis the Prison Planet by Vartox. Could an inmate have managed to escape and steal it?”
Kayla said, “I suppose. I guess I’m still obsessed with Starbreaker like some warrior suffering from trauma after a battle loss!”
Before they could continue their discussion a blinding glow filled the sky for a moment and the ground trembled.  The two heroines fought to retain their footing but they noticed no structural damage had occurred.  A sensation of numbing coldness touched the heroines and every citizen of the beleaguered city for a moment and then the blinding light faded away to reveal a shocking sight.
A long and wide walkway now loomed above the city and humanoid beings in yellow and green armor with matching helmets patrolled the pathways and gazed down at the city.
“Great Suns!  Even though my vision couldn’t see clearly through the energy discharge, I can tell all of Cosmoplis has been teleported off Vax! The whole city is surrounded by a glowing energy barrier!”
“That doesn’t sound like Starbreaker’s technique!” said Marvel Maid.
An armored humanoid in a full helmet that concealed his features approached them and said, “We do not serve Starbreaker.  I am a Preserver not a destroyer of life.  My brethren and I serve the mighty Curator.  You and your culture will not perish. On the contrary, this Cosmopolis of yours is merely the first of a series of new displays in the soon to re-open Museum of Eternity!”
Superwoman moved with super speed and grabbed the alien being with one hand.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! This is a thriving city with living, breathing citizens. You can’t just teleport the whole place into some space museum for aliens to gawk at!” she said.
He shrugged and said, “And yet such has always been the Curator’s policy.  Be honored your world was chosen for such a place of prominence! When the accursed Superman closed the original Museum, the Curator was devastated.  He mourned the loss of the countless cities he had transported to the Museum of Eternity and placed within special display containment fields to be observed and enjoyed by all visitors.   He had no means of building another Museum until the cosmic vampire Starbreaker perished and his ship became available! It has the technological resources needed to restock a new Museum with cities taken from planets across all of space!  I am here merely to make a final survey of the new addition to the collection! When the Museum of Eternity opens once more, beings from across the cosmos will walk on our pathway and gaze down to each side to study your captive city and others like it.”
Superwoman said, “Take me to this Curator now! He and I are going to have a nice long chat!”
Marvel Maid frowned as she scanned the city. The city had been teleported off of Vax but it had not been miniaturized. It appeared to be intact and it retained its normal dimensions but it had been placed within some type of other dimensional portal or containment field within an impossibly large complex.
She felt some relief that her friend’s home was at least not in peril of destruction at the hands of Starbreaker. How she despised that fiend!
At first, the other citizens seemed unaware that anything had happened. They lacked the enhanced senses that allowed the heroines to see dimly beyond the semi-transparent field that surrounded the outskirts of the city.  However, now that the glowing field had faded, everyone could see in and out of the force field.
She wondered what had happened to those poor people who lived just beyond the city limits. Had the energy barrier that now contained the city destroyed them and their homes?
The hapless Preserver struggled futilely in Superwoman’s grasp and then said, “The Purifiers would never allow an exhibit to disturb the Curator!”
Superwoman said, “I suppose these Purifiers are your version of Museum Security Guards?”
A high pitched giggle echoed through the streets as a colorful figure capered into view.  She had long green hair and wore a tiara with a red and black jester’s costume consisting of a diamond patterned leotard and slippers.
“The Harlequeen!  This is no time for your mad crimes!” said Luma as she recognized her foe.  She dropped the struggling Preserver as she moved closer to the grinning woman.
The Harlequeen smiled broadly and blew a kiss at the blonde heroine. “Now, is that any way for you to talk to someone who tried to kill you on more than one occasion?”
The Preserver raced away and yelled over one shoulder, “We’ve had to improvise since we lost the original Museum.  We’ve recruited some of your natives as our new Purifiers!”
A beam of energy narrowly missed Superwoman as a woman in a red and silver costume approached and aimed a wrist blaster at her.
“The Markswoman! This is a real reunion of some low lives!” said Luma.
The expert markswoman said nothing but her next shot was deflected by a projectile shaped like a red bat!
Luma and Kayla glanced up to see two costumed females swing down from one of the nearby buildings even as other normal citizens fled from the scene of battle.
“Twilight and Dawn! I am happy to see the Dynamic Damsels!” said Luma.
Dawn, a petite blonde in a brief red tunic and orange hosiery and red slippers smiled back and said, “I don’t think chalk-face over there is too happy to see us!”
Twilight, a taller woman with red hair and a deathly pale complexion beneath a black cowl that opened to let her long hair flow freely from the back of her head, wore a black and red costume with a long cape. Her high heeled red boots matched the scalloped cape.
“Superwoman, we tracked the Harlequeen here to Cosmopolis from our home base in Gothic City. I suppose we arrived just in time for the energy field to trap us here!” she said.
Superwoman nodded and said, “I can explain about it but first, let’s settle matters with our old foes!”
Dawn laughed merrily and flipped nimbly through the air until she landed on top of a startled Markswoman! Three quick punches from the brightly costumed girl left the female assassin stunned!
Harlequeen raised her gloves hands and a noxious gas sprayed out of the palms!
Superwoman inhaled the poison as Twilight charged forward and connected with a spinning heel kick that knocked the Crown Queen of Crime sprawling to the pavement.
Marvel Maid whirled in time to see a newcomer arrive on the scene! The woman was dressed in the gaudy sequins and lace decorated dress of a dance hall girl from the Old West or at least from Hollywood’s version of the Old West. The black haired beauty wore an array of odd belts and sashes that contained odd shaped devices and two gleaming guns rested on each shapely hip!
“Bellestar! I should have figured aliens would naturally recruit you. You are one of my most frequent alien enemies!” said Superwoman.
The Space Cowboy spat some kind of tobacco to the pavement and it erupted into green flames!
“I reckon you think you got mah number! Wahl, I got some new tricks up my sleeves or I would have if’n I was wearin’sleeves!” she said.
Superwoman froze the flames with her super breath and stomped the pavement with enough force to shatter it and drive the weird outlaw backward.
Marvel Maid noticed Twilight was still wrestling with the garish Harlequeen as Dawn secured the fallen Markswoman.
She hesitated to interfere in the battle as Superwoman broke free of a strange lasso that had twisted itself around her legs like a snake!
Superwoman said, “How many times do I need to break free from your tired Wild West gimmicks, Bellestar?”
A humanoid in green and purple armor flew into view and hovered above the battle.
Twilight had knocked the Clown Queen out and Bellestar found herself hesitating as she stared at the newcomer.
“Tesla? I heard you was buried beneath Boot Hill!  Help me hogtie these fancy fillies!” she cried.
Superwoman waved her friends back and said, “This must be Tyrone Tesla. He was my deadliest enemy on Staryl!”
The armored figure silently raised one gloved hand and a bluish beam struck Bellestar and left her writhing in pain on the ground. The visor that covered the flying being’s head slid aside to reveal delicate and lovely features.
“I am Andrea Tesla. My husband was the brilliant Tyrone Tesla. He and I found love and sanctuary together on my home planet of Teslar but my poor spouse could never rest. He was tormented by thoughts of his battles with you and his desire to atone for past wrongs. He came back to Staryl to pay his old debts to society and make peace with you when Starbreaker destroyed Staryl. Tyrone died with everyone else on Staryl.  I created this armor and came to find you.  I wanted you to know how he died and how love changed him!”
Luma said, “I never thought I’d be allied with a Tesla. I am truly sorry for your loss and that I never got to accept Tyrone’s desire for peace and accord!”
Andrea said, “I know much about the Museum.  Superman destroyed most of the technology associated with it when he freed all the exhibits.  The Curator lacks most of his old power.  Your new home city is his first acquisition since he claimed this starship for his own!”
After explanations were given and introductions were made, Twilight and Dawn offered their friendship to Marvel Maid and Andrea Tesla.
Twilight placed both hands on her hips and declared, “Marvel Maid, Superwoman has become a true ally to us in our war on crime.  I’d say you know her well enough to realize, she won’t rest until she has liberated this city from the Curator!”
Superwoman said, “Twilight and Dawn are equally amazing. They have become good friends to me.  It is odd but Vax lacks any male heroes or villains.  Staryl had both but for some reason all costumed types of either persuasion are female on Vax!”
As they secured the fallen criminals, Marvel Maid said, “We need to find the Curator himself!”
She gasped as an energy beam teleported the Dynamic Damsels, Tesla, and Superwoman to a startling new location by her side.
She looked around the familiar scene and scanned the area with all of her enhanced senses. A skyscraper with a stylized globe resting on its top loomed above.  The words Daily Planet were painted on the brightly painted globe.
“Great Suns! Can it be? This looks like Macropolis! It really seems to be my lost home from Terra!” she whispered.
3
As Kayla the Marvel Maid stared around what appeared to be Macropolis, she also attracted the attention of ordinary citizens who filled the crowded streets. As they recognized their heroine they began to feel new hope and they expressed this hope.
“It’s Marvel Maid! Thank goodness! She’s back! She’ll save us!”
Those words or sentiments like them echoed in her ears as tears filled her eyes. She realized she really was home!
  Superwoman said, “Kayla, this is Macropolis isn’t it? I recognize it from the time I visited.  Don’t you see? The Curator somehow acquired your city before Starbreaker destroyed the rest of Terra!”
Marvel Maid nodded and said, “It’s like a miracle! They said Starbreaker’s ship had the technology needed to enable them to steal cultures from various worlds and place them in this museum but was the reason his ship was so equipped to begin with because he also was collecting cities?”
“That is a logical supposition. Starbreaker took cities from some of the worlds he destroyed and kept them as a kind of trophy. He used a technique not unlike the one used by the Curator. Each city was stored within its own dimensional portal that could be viewed from his ship! He did not steal cities from most of his targeted planets. He was a being of impulse at times and his feeding frenzies dominated any logic or plan. He even allowed some victims to think he was a cosmic merchant selling natural resources but in truth he was a sadistic vampire and his need to feed was his main motivation!”
The words came from a newcomer who stepped forward and led a group of the armored Preservers out from the shadows.  He was orange skinned and had a thin wispy beard on his chin. He wore a dark robe.  The others deferred to him and he clearly carried himself with an air of authority.
“I am the Curator! You have defied my rules of conduct and bested my new Preservers!  You have also correctly deduced the reason I was able to acquire this city along with a few others. Starbreaker teleported Macropolis to his trophy room aboard his ship before he fed on Terra. He also claimed a few other cities over the eons of his tortured existence.  You will never see them since I have decided your potential to create trouble is greater than your value as exhibits!”
Marvel Maid jumped forward and said, “I won’t lose my home twice!”
“You’ll lose your powers though!” said a sneering man whose muscular body glowed a dull green. He spoke with a tone of malice.  He was bald headed and wore green shorts that matched his glowing green skin tone.
“The Leech! I should have guessed some of my old enemies would have been taken when the city was teleported away!” said Marvel Maid as she felt her kinetic energy drop and she struggled to move forward much less maintain her earlier super speed.
She allowed herself to drop to the pavement and slammed both fists into the ground and then burrowed into the ground and out of the range of his power sapping villain. Then she was able to return at super speed from beneath the surface and hurl the Leech into the air!
 “I have to end this now! I can’t make any mistakes! I can’t lose if I’ve been blessed with another chance to save my friends!”
Superwoman darted forward to catch the falling and now screaming villain and then stopped and allowed her super breath to create an icy ramp that allowed the prone villain to slide down to safety.
“I couldn’t risk touching him. He seems to drain energy like my own foe the Succubus!” she said.
Marvel Maid nodded and said, “Exactly! He brought some fiendish friends too!”
A fat old man in a striped jacket and pleated pants came forward and hurled what looked like a yo yo at the women!
Twilight deflected it with one of her blunt projectiles and said, “Deadly toys?  Is this old coot your world’s version of Vax’s Plaything?”
The Toymaker giggled and said, “I’m one of a kind not a cheaply made, mass produced toy, don’t you know!”
He smiled wickedly as long coils bounced out of his huge pockets and roped around Twilight and Dawn.
They melted the crushing slinkies with chemicals from their utility belts and closed in on the evil genius.
Superwoman faced a green and gold costumed man whose partially covered face resembled a skull. This was appropriate since he was called the Atomic Skull!
He said, “Two Marvel Maids? How wonderful! I can kill you both like I did Marvel Man!”
Kayla cried, “You’ll pay for that.  I’ll bring you to justice no matter how many times you break free from prison!”
He laughed and a pulsing electrical charge surrounded his skull and surged toward the woman.
They dodged and Luma frowned as she scanned his costume.
“Last time I beat him by fusing the control device that allows him to regulate his mental energy bolts. He has refined the process. I don’t see any regulator!” she thought.
Marvel Maid remembered how her beloved cousin had been burned by the same mental bolts and how he had been murdered by the Skull’s ally Metallo’s diamond heart!  The villains had ambushed Marvel Man while she in turn had been unable to help due to the amnesia forced upon her by the disembodied alien criminals trapped by her own father in the Mind Field long ago. 
She moved with blinding speed and hurled the stunned Leech into the Skull by lifting his body on a slab of concrete.  The villain gasped as his mental bolt was abruptly drained away by the other villain who was dazed from his own fall.
Before either of them could react, the blonde heroines were upon them!
Marvel Maid knocked the Atomic Skull out with a punch that shattered his jaw.
She was not really being vengeful. She merely knew she couldn’t afford to give him a chance to attack again.
Superwoman wrapped the Leech in a sheath made from rapidly shaped and fused pavement. It was cool to the touch but it was solid enough to keep him helpless as she expertly tossed him on the roof of a nearby building. He was out of range of their powers and could not drain any energy from such a distance.
Meanwhile, Andrea Tesla confronted the Curator and scowled.
“We’re being duped. My armor’s sensors are rather precise. They detect no respiration or other signs of life. He’s not an alien. He’s a robot.”
The Curator said, “You lack the scientific expertise to analyze one such as myself!”
Tesla generated a localized energy pulse that struck the orange skinned being in the chest. He twisted and fell to the ground as his skin peeled away to reveal a metallic skeleton.
Dawn had deftly kicked the Toymaker to the ground as her mentor Twilight knocked him out with a gas pellet.
“Playtime is over!” quipped the Blonde Bombshell.
Additional bolts from Tesla’s armor revealed the remaining armored Preservers to be a mixture of aliens and robots. Clearly, the majority of them were robotic and the aliens were all that remained of the Preservers from the original Museum of Eternity that Superman had closed!
Tesla said, “If this robot was posing as the Curator and most of his armored Preservers are also machines then who is really running this Museum?
Marvel Maid said, “We’re going to find out.  I think I know how to break through the barriers around each exhibit! We’ll do it with a little help from our enemies!”
Seconds later, after a hurried discussion Superwoman, Marvel Maid, and Tesla flew into the sky leaving the Dynamic Damsels to guard the captives with the exception of the hapless Leech.
They rammed him against the force field at the dome over the city and as his energy dampening power briefly caused the field to flicker and fade for less than one second, the heroines passed to freedom!
“I figured his power might weaken the dome barrier but I knew he was not fast enough to pass through it before it reformed. He couldn’t turn it off for longer than a fraction of a second. That was enough time for us to get through with our super speed and your armor jets!” said Kayla to Andrea.
Andrea said, “What now? We’re actually free from any exhibit but the owner of this gallery of horrors could teleport us back inside any exhibit at will!”
They moved toward a huge control chamber that rose above the elevated walkway.  A control booth filled the chamber and a sultry female figure sat at the controls and smiled at them with an obvious malice. She had long blonde hair, green skin, and wore a tight purple costume with high heeled boots.
“You have earned an audience with me. I am Genia. This little charade was merely a means by which I might acquire cities from across the cosmos. I duped the Preservers and the assorted villains into serving me by allowing them to think their precious Curator was in charge. I eliminated him long ago and let a robot duplicate take his place.  It was enough of a ruse to fool the idiots who were so devoted to his cause in the first place. Needless to say, I have no desire to recreate a Museum. This is merely the start of an offering of love that I will present to the being I adore above all others! I will win the love of my Brainiac by giving him …literally giving him… the universe!” she said.
Marvel Maid said, “You are insane! You would rip worlds apart in the name of love? I won’t listen to such madness!”
Genia stood up and placed both hands on her hips. “You will not need to listen to anything but the silence of the grave!”
Tesla shuddered and said, “My armor is almost dead. She’s taken control of my weapons!”
Genia laughed and crossed the room in a sultry display worthy of a human temptress.  It was impossible to tell that the mocking woman was in fact an artificial being created by yet another mad genius.
“Your armor is a child’s toy to one with my advanced intellect! I know all your weaknesses! My omnicron ray will slay you all by striking you with your individual weaknesses!  Diamonds kill Marvel Maid and Superwoman perishes when exposed to an ebon shrike bolt!” she said with a smile.
Energy blazed at the two heroines and split into two separate rays. One of the rays gleamed a shade of white with sparkling facets while the other was as dark as night.
Superwoman fell before the dark ray as Marvel Maid gasped as the diamond radiance swept across her body…or so it seemed!
Suddenly, the super women resumed an attack and as Marvel Maid knocked Genia across the room, Superwoman smashed the walls and the equipment that lined them!
Genia said, “This does not compute! Why did you not perish? I calculated your exact weaknesses and I never err! I cannot err if I am to be worthy of being the Bride of Brainiac!”
Marvel Maid smiled and said, “Oh, you had our weaknesses right but you failed to realize something pretty simple. We changed costumes at super speed before coming here. You used the wrong weapon on each of us!”
She battered Genia again and again with such speed that the other women could not activate her own protective force field. Finally, the evil android said, “I yield but I still have enough power to detonate the stolen cities! Your homes and several other cities taken by Starbreaker will be destroyed!”
Sirens screamed throughout the ship as the alien craft began a self-destruct countdown!
Superwoman said, “She means it! Even though I wrecked most of the ship’s weapons she may still have some mental link to a self -destruct mechanism!”
Marvel Maid said, “I’ll force her to stop the countdown!”
She raised her fist above the smirking Genia and then suddenly the sirens were quiet.
Genia scowled and pushed her long blonde locks away from her flawless face.
“The system has been shut down! How is it possible? Neither of you had the time to perform the necessary overrides nor could you have known what they were!”
“My pal plucked them from your brain with his mental powers and I performed the shutdown at super speed!” said a handsome man in a red and blue costume.
“Kel!” whispered Kayla as she looked into the familiar features of her beloved cousin Marvel Man!
Marvel Man grinned and hugged her for a moment and then said, “It’s really me, Kayla.  I was in some kind of death-like coma in a mausoleum.  I guess you figured I was really dead and you placed me there after a funeral.  I woke up and my new friend led me to you. He’s pretty cool. His name is Kral of Titan!  He’s not from the Titan we know. It’s an alternate one. He was just using his own mental powers and they somehow cancelled out the coma I was in. I guess it was caused by our old foes from the Mind Field.”
Kral of Titan was a handsome man in a red costume. He shrugged and said, “I was glad to help. I was listening and watching everything the whole time but I couldn’t escape until something made all the force barriers flicker off for less than a second. That was long enough for me to project myself to freedom as pure mental energy!”
Marvel Maid wept freely and said, “I can’t believe it! We were sure you were dead! This is a real miracle!”
Tesla said, “I hate to interrupt this reunion but Genia is gone! Her body is empty. She transferred her mind to another robotic form! She escaped! I can tell that much since my own armor is powering up again!”
Superwoman kicked the now inert robotic body aside and said, “She’s right. Still, we’ve won the day. We can restore Cosmopolis to its rightful place and find home worlds for the cities that no longer have intact planets to rest upon!”
Marvel Maid said, “We’ll find a place for Macropolis and we can rebuilt our old lives there with all our friends!”
Marvel Man grinned and said, “I can’t wait to go home again!”
Andrea Tesla said, “My Tyrone never had the chance to make amends with you but I hope by helping you save Vax… all in the name of my love… I have brought him some measure of peace! I could not allow Genia or anyone else to rob me of the chance to restore honor to his name!”
Epilogue
After all of the stolen cities had been placed on appropriate worlds and Cosmopolis was back on Vax,  and the alien Preservers and Starbreaker’s ship had been returned to Kronis the Prison Planet, Kayla sat across from Luma at a small café in Macropolis.  The two women were dressed as Lea Lindy and Lisa Danvers.
Lisa said, “Placing Macropolis here on Vax was a perfect solution. During the Invasion a while back, most of one state was literally wiped out. This was before I came to Vax.  Settling your city and its people in that nearly empty location will help the survivors find new homes and will give your people life on a world much like the one they lost! Plus, you not only have your cousin back but you have me, Kate, and Bette as well as your friends!”
Lea said, “I can’t thank you all enough. Andraa wanted to do some travelling but she’ll be back someday too. I went from being a woman who had lost everything to being someone truly blessed!”
Marvel Man (Ken Clark) walked up and waved at the women. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and wore thick glasses. He led a pretty redhead Lana Langston and a freckled man named Jim Coalson into the café. He was clearly thrilled to be among his old pals again.
Lea smiled in greeting and silently gave thanks once more for the miracle she had never imagined could occur.
“You can go home again! You really can!” she sighed.
The End