| The
Flying Fox Home Page
An Introduction to the Fabulous Flying Fox
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3a
Episode 4a |
Episode 2: "Pele, Goddess of Fire"During her first couple of weeks as Hawaii's fabulous Flying Fox, Raven has made quite a splash. She's stopped a couple of crimes, rescued a child who fell into a well, and done a number of other good deeds. She's getting a lot of press coverage, and most of it is highly favorable, but as she explains to Jackson Andrews when he tells her it looks like clear sailing ahead, the Flying Fox hasn't yet faced a real challenge. Her first real test as a superheroine isn't going to come until she has to find a way to deal with someone who's more powerful than she is. As coincidence would have it, just such a being has recently begun marauding on the big island of Hawaii. At a briefing conducted by Steven Lord, Raven learns of the existence of Pele, Goddess of Fire. She's a large, powerful woman who has demonstrated the ability to generate enough heat to melt solid rock. According to eye-witness reports, this "Pele" believes herself to be an avatar of the real goddess of the same name, and is firmly convinced it's her holy mission to drive out the "foreign invaders" who stole the land from her people. She's strong and tough, and Lord frankly isn't certain that the Flying Fox will be able to handle her, but the governor insists that if Raven's going to be Hawaii's official superheroine, she has to be given the first shot at bringing this menace in. As Lord had feared, Pele proves to be too much for the Flying Fox to handle. Against someone capable of generating enough heat to melt solid rock, Raven is lucky to escape with her life. And it's small comfort to her that Steven Lord 's people don't have any better luck when they move in against Pele than she did. For Raven, this is a real setback. Up until now, her career as a costumed heroine had been going extremely well. But as the rampages of this self-styled fire-goddess continue, the press starts getting a bit nasty, wondering what good it is for Hawaii to have an "official" superheroine who can't handle this kind of problem. Perhaps, one particularly obnoxious columnist suggests, it would be better for Steven Lord's sexy little flying girlfriend to leave the superhero business to people who can handle the job. Maybe it's time for the governor to put in a call for some real heroes, like Icestar and the League of Champions, to deal with the menace of Pele. Feeling depressed and useless, Raven sets aside her costumed identity for a while, and retreats to her persona as a sultry nightclub singer. At first, this pleases Jackson, who looks forward to having his star performer on stage every night. But after a few listless performances, he realizes that something is seriously wrong with the girl. That evening, as Raven cries herself to sleep in his arms, telling him that on top of everything else she's missed her period and is worried she might be pregnant with a baby she doesn't want, it occurs to him that despite what Sylph believes, at this point in Raven's life having a child wouldn't make her more of a woman. Rather, it would completely destroy a vital component of her psychological makeup. Thus, going against Sylph's direct orders that he get Raven pregnant, he decides to make sure she isn't. While she sleeps, he makes effective use of the mystic power of the crimson soul gem he normally keeps invisible and immaterial on his forehead, not only to block any possibility of a pregnancy, but also to make some subtle alterations in Raven's mood. Come morning, Raven is indeed in a much better mood. She's giggly and girlish, and is all over Jackson at breakfast, telling him how happy she is to be his sweetheart. But despite the more upbeat attitude she's projecting, Jackson observes that Raven barely glances at the newspaper and is uncharacteristically disinterested in morning television reports. Clearly, she still wants to avoid finding out what Pele has been up to. She still doesn't want to be reminded of her recent failure. Seeing this as a weakness in Raven's character that will have to be overcome, Jackson insists on talking about it. He goes over the details of the fight with her, and points out where Raven made a fundamental mistake. She fought that battle on terms Pele had defined! Obviously, in a straight-up fight, Pele has some advantages over the Flying Fox. That being the case, why in the world would Raven want to engage in a straight-up fight? Perhaps, under normal circumstances, a sense of honor is a good thing to have, but in this case it was completely inappropriate. If Pele is hurting people, then she has to be stopped, and the people she's hurting can't wait for Icestar and the League of Champions to get here. Jackson suggests that Raven has two important advantages over Pele. Raven is fast, and Raven can fly. If facing this menace down isn't going to work—and on the evidence it isn't—then the correct strategy is to hit her fast and hard from behind. If the problem is that she melts rock, then the answer is to get her away from the rock. Suddenly, Raven gets all excited. She checks the newspapers. She finds out what's being said on TV. Then she gives Jackson a big kiss, runs upstairs to put on her costume, and kicks herself for being such a self-indulgent, self-pitying dope. Jackson continues to sit at the breakfast table, looking thoughtful. He's just taken a big risk. But even if Sylph is angry with him, he can always argue that she never countermanded her original order that he support Raven fully in whatever she might want to do. As she flies toward the big island of Hawaii, Raven is filled with self-confidence. Thanks to Jackson's prompting, she's now figured out something she should have figured out earlier, and certainly would have figured out if she hadn't let herself lapse into such a funk. If Pele is supposedly trying to drive the "foreign invader" off the islands, then why is she spending all her time on the sparsely populated big island? Why not pay a visit to Oahu, and do some serious damage in Honolulu? This morning, Pele has been attacking a military base. The soldiers have been putting up a good fight, but Pele is too tough to be hurt, and too strong to be restrained. All seems lost when, out of the blue, the Flying Fox swoops down on Pele from behind, hits her hard, and carries her up into the air! Pele is furious! Didn't the Fox learn her lesson last time? Against the power of the goddess of fire, no mere mortal can hope for victory. But the Fox ignores Pele's rantings and keeps taking her higher into the air. The Fox suggests that if Pele is going to kill her, she should do it now. Of course, if she does, she's high enough that she's going to hit the ground rather hard. Pele just laughs and says that a fall won't hurt her. No matter how hard she hits, the power of Pele will restore her. The Fox grins and lets Pele go. On the way down, the Fox flits around Pele, taunting her, challenging her to unleash her volcanic power. But Pele can't. Her power is rooted in the volcanic soil of the big island of Hawaii. When the Fox took her into the air, physical contact was broken. Now, in this situation, it's the Flying Fox who has the clear advantage, and she uses it unmercifully, delivering blow after head-spinning blow to her hapless target. Thus, the Fox is able to return to Honolulu and deliver a pummeled, battered, thoroughly unconscious Pele to Steven Lord. She cautions him to make certain the woman is held in such a way that she doesn't come into contact with the ground, suggesting that even though Oahu doesn't have an active volcano, and Pele's power would likely be considerably lessened here, it's still volcanic soil. She also suggests that the League of Champions should be notified that their assistance won't be necessary after all, and that Steven should reward her with a kiss. He does a double-take. Is she serious? Evidently she is. She standing there with her hands clasped behind her back, leaning slightly forward with her eyes closed and her lips pursed. So he leans forward and pecks her gently on the cheek. She opens her eyes, looks a bit angry, and complains, "That's it? I stomp on Pele for you, and that's all I get?" She's really mad. She flies off in a huff, yelling at him that she's not going to make that mistake again. From now on, her relationship with Steven Lord is going to be entirely correct and professional. One of Lord's aides chuckles and suggests the boss really blew it. A foxy babe like that tries to throw herself at him, and what does he do? He pecks her on the cheek. Good grief. Steve may be a great cop, but when it comes to knowing how to handle dames he's obviously a complete boob. Steven just stands there, scratching his head, muttering that he thought a correct and professional relationship with the Flying Fox was what he had. |