Got Gal, Issue #008

Issue #008 – – – – – controlled by Keith Nixon – – – – – Credits 103

“Okay big guy,” Got Gal said, knowing immediately that she was probably going to regret this: “I’m with you.”
Devastator laughed and hefted a car at some of the nearby cops.  Got Gal took the moment of surprise to punch Bloodhound straight between the eyes.  It was tempting to use her full strength, but she was reasonably sure he wasn’t super tough in any way and that was likely to (a) make a real gooey mess of her hand and (b) kill him.  So she pulled the blow, though it was still sufficient to bludgeon his nose into a bloody patty.  The brain crashed senselessly to the ground.
“He’s going to feel that in the morning,” Devastator laughed.  “But I can solve that.”  Then he stamped on Bloodhound’s back.  The horrible sound of the man’s spine snapping cracked through the air.  “Hey!” Got Gal was shocked, “What the hell?”
“Sorry darlin’,” Devastator flashed a bloodthirsty grin, “You’re playing with the bad guys now.”

No time to consider the villain’s actions, Got Gal figured to sort it out later.  Instead, she tested her powers to see if Bloodhound’s effects had gone.  Sure enough, she was able to fly again.  For a moment, just a moment, she considered leaving Devastator behind.  But that wasn’t how she did things.  Bloodhound may have been hurt much more seriously than she was comfortable with, but he was a combatant and he had started this.  It was his fault Devastator was out of jail in the first place.  “You reap what you sow,” she said, before grabbing the huge villain with both hands and launching them skyward.
“What are you doing?” Devastator called up to her.
“It’s time for Operation Bug Out,” came the reply.

Bullets whined through the air, bouncing off Got Gal and her passenger’s impervious hides.  Distantly, they heard two more booms.  “We can’t stay in the sky,” Devastator said.  “He’s getting closer!”
“Scared?” Got Gal was surprised.
“Huh!  Missy, if you aren’t scared of Captain Courage then you’re an idiot.”
“But you’re an A-Class behemoth,” Got Gal pointed out.  “You were throwing trucks around like tennis balls earlier.”
“There is no class to describe Courage,” Devastator said.  “He’s bigger than all of us.  We need to go to ground.”
“No problem,” Got Gal grinned, Wildly.  “That, I can do!”

Boom.  Boom.  Boom.  Each sonic explosion was closer than the last.  Even though Got Gal had never met Captain Courage, there was something about that sound that unnerved her.  She remembered, when she was a little girl, watching old black and white horror movies with her parents.  She remember the tricks the directors used, approaching footsteps, louder and louder.  There was something of that in this.  Like some terrible menace were advancing, relentless, unstoppable, monstrous.  But wasn’t this Captain Courage supposed to be some kind of red, white and blue All American hero?  He shouldn’t be precipitated by an aura of fear.  It seemed out of character.  But Got Gal didn’t have time to think about it.  Angling at the ground, Got Gal poured on the speed.  Devastator shrieked below her, a sound which was odd coming from the big man.  “Don’t worry,” Got Gal said.  “I have a plan.”
“Your plan seems to involve smashing into the ground really, really, really fast.  Not sure I’m a big fan of The Plan, right now.”
Got Gal laughed and then they collided with the ground in an explosion of dust and concrete and tarmac and everything went dark.

“What happened?” Devastator moaned.  “That hurt!  And nothing much hurts me.”
“Don’t worry,” Got Gal said, “That would hurt anybody.  There was a lot of force in that impact.  Now shut up and follow me.”
They had crashed through the road surface and into some dark sewer tunnel.  Got Gal was leading him into the utter darkness and she was punching walls so that the tunnels collapsed behind them.  “You think its a good idea to get lost underground?” Devastator asked.
“You aren’t incredibly bright, are you?” Got Gal asked.
The Devastator shrugged: “Don’t need to be.  I can lift an oil tanker on a good day.”
“Look.  I know these tunnels well.  Unfortunately, I’ve spent a lot of time in them.”
“Why?” Devastator asked, puzzled.
“I often ask myself the same thing.  But don’t be concerned.  Even if we get lost it wont be too hard for somebody of your sheer strength to break up to the surface, will it?”
“No,” Devastator realised.  “I suppose not.”
“The important thing, according to you, is that we lose Captain Courage.  Well, unless he has X-Ray Eyes or something, he’s not going to find us down here as long as we get a fair distance from where we entered.  Okay?”
“Okay,” Devastator said.
“Then shut up and keep moving.”

An hour or so later, Got Gal and The Devastator sat beneath a bridge alongside the main sewer flow that ran out into the bay.  They were both muddy, bloody  and tired.  The villain had lost some of the edge of violence that seemed to accompany him most of the time.  Though she knew this could be a ruse.  He was a killer after all.  Slowly, he looked at Got Gal and said: “Got a question for ya.”
“Okay.  Shoot,” Got Gal agreed.
“That fall really smashed me up.  I’m gonna be hurting for days.  I’m much tougher than you, no offense.”
“None taken.”
“So how come you ain’t all smashed up too?”
“You were underneath me,” Got Gal told him.  “You took the impact.  I rode you into the sewers.  Thanks for that, by the way.”
The Devastator looked at her, his mouth wide.  Then he began to laugh.  “You used me as a battering ram?  You got some stones, girl.  How did you know I’d even survive that?”
Got Gal met his gaze levelly: “I didn’t.  But I was pretty sure you would.  A-Class tanks like you don’t get killed falling out of the sky.  That never happens.  It’s too easy.  Somebody like you goes down, it’s a big story.  There’s probably a whole story arc, you know?”
The Devastator stared out across the putrid water.  Then sighed.  “You got a strange mind, Got Gal.  I expect we’ll be fighting again at some point.  But right now, you’re alright.”  With that he rose to his feet and strode away without looking back.
“Fighting again?” Got Gal said, beneath her breath.  “Jeez.  I hope not.  That monster is unkillable.”