Power Rankings
By: K. A. Maxwell

“Sorry, I can’t help you with your protein needs.” The Lightspeed Rail steward frowned at the large passenger wearing a baggy hoodie, cap and tight jeans. 

“How do you know I eat a lot?” asked the passenger. 

“There’s no use trying to hide that gym rat look. I know you have to eat a lot.” 

 “So?”

The steward folded his arms. “That part is obvious sir, I’ve been working here for over eight years now and seen thousands of people.” 

“So is that your ability?” 

“More like a skill.” 

“Anything else you know about me?” 

“Ummm, athlete, reclusive except when you have to be, and pretty picky.”

The passenger leaned back and the chair shuddered under the weight. 

The steward cringed. “And pretty heavy, careful there.”  

“I’m getting comfortable, don’t worry about me.” 

“I’ve seen hardcore gym people train too hard and injure themselves. If I were you, I’d tone it down a bit.” 

The passenger made an annoyed sigh, turned to the steward and lifted the cap. 

The steward met the eyes of Lt. Commander Bridget Ebony. She was the head trainer of the Green Ventures Unlimited Security Department. Away from work, she played Full-Back on the Nyxazon Knights Pro Rugby Team. In her current form, she was six-foot-two and 656 tons of Nyxazon pride with short curly hair that rose up, green eyes, and full lips. With her anti-gravity belt on, she was only 656 pounds, but no less dangerous. 

The steward’s eyes trailed up to her hair, shifted to her massive shoulders, then down to her chest where his eyes bulged. 

“Uhm..... sorry sir-- ma’am, I didn’t realize,” he stammered. 

“Your heart is going fast, your breath is weird, I can see every pore on your face sweating”. Bridget leaned forward and the steward’s eyes followed down. “And my eyes are up here.” 

The steward’s face flushed red. He looked down at his feet, avoiding eye contact and stayed quiet.

Bridget’s fingers drummed on one of the armrests of her chair. “I said, eyes up soldier!”  

The steward’s eyes snapped up and his face burned redder. His eyes wandered again, this time to the name tag on his breast pocket, before lowering his head once more.

Bridget shifted and looked outside.  As stars, planets, and asteroids zoomed by, her mind drifted back again to the incident only a few days ago.

A group of GVU security officers used the training session of new recruits as a ruse for their kidnapping plot. One recruit was a mercenary in disguise who goaded her into fighting her one-on-one. But his real goal was making Bridget transform while on campus. 

It was a mistake, but the itch to show her true strength was too tempting and he needed to learn a lesson. He needed to see how strong an extreme high-powered was. 

The veteran security officers she respected, all encouraged her to do it, despite rules to the contrary. 

So she did, albeit slowly, trying to minimize the damage as the raw blessed power filled her. But then, it vanished; her body froze. 

The hand of the villain, Rose, reached her face as if to caress her like a trophy. 

“I’ve never been close to a pissed off Nyxazon, What a thrill, it’s almost a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he beamed. 

She roared at him, but he didn’t back off.  

She tried to move, but remained still. 

She wanted him to stop, but he kept going. 

She needed the liberating power, but it never came. 

A loud crack brought Bridget out of her trance and she glanced at her right hand. Crushed pieces of the chair’s armrest were in her hand. She exhaled slowly and let go of the remnants. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

Why did she keep thinking about those events? She knew better than to dwell on the past. But a Nyxazon like her, should have never, ever been put in that situation in the first place. Her ears picked up a much faster heartbeat and her gaze snapped over to the steward who froze and shivered in fear.  His eyes now on the same hand that snapped the armrest like a twig. 

“Oh My Goddess,” exclaimed Bridget. She brushed the pieces off her hands. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’ll pay for the chair.”

The steward took two steps back, dropped his tray spilling food and drinks on the floor and ran back towards the front of the train. 

Bridget gulped and almost rushed after him to stop him, but stopped herself. It wouldn’t be a good sight to have a large Nyxazon chasing people. So instead, she closed her eyes and tried to relax again. 

Around ten minutes passed before she was tapped on her shoulder. “Excuse me, ma’am.” 

Bridget opened her eyes and was greeted by a woman dressed in conductor uniform flanked by two security guards. 

“I’m the head conductor of the train,” she said and noticed the pieces of armrest on the ground. “I was made aware of your chair.” 

“It was an accident,” said Bridget. “Just a little stressed. Bad memories biting me in the ass.” 

The head conductor frowned. “And also, one of our staff said that you attacked him.” 

Bridget’s eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t attack him,” she said, voice raised. 

Almost instantly, the head conductor’s and security officers’ heartbeats jumped. Bridget’s keen sight tracked a hand from one of the security officers’ shifting and gripping a device that had been mounted on his utility belt. 

“Seriously, I didn’t attack him. I think he got scared after he called me sir.” 

The security officers looked at each other, at Bridget, then at the conductor. 

The heartbeat of the conductor slowed and her shoulders lowered. “So that’s what happened.”

Bridget tilted her head. “You believe me?” 

The head conductor nodded. “It’s not the first time this happened. You’re a Nyxazon. ‘Nuff said. If you had attacked for real, all of us would have noticed, trust me.” She waved away the security officers and they left. “I’m sorry for how that stewart treated you. He’ll be getting re-training to handle high-powered passengers better.” 

Bridget nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. “Awesome, thanks. I’ll still pay for the chair.” 

The head conductor nodded and handed Bridget a card. “Here’s our high-powered incident line with the case number. We can figure out the details after for now--” 

A young boy squeezed his way between the security guards and held out a piece of paper. He looked nervous, his hands shaking slightly. “Excuse me, are you Bridget Ebony? The pro rugby player?” 

Bridget nodded. “Yep. I’m her.” 

“I just wanted to say I am a big fan! You’re my favorite player!”

Bridget chuckled. “Thanks, are you into sports as much as I am?” 

The boy shook his head. “I don’t play sports, but I like watching.” 

“All good, you don’t have to play sports if you don’t want to.”

The boy stepped in closer and held out a pen and a paper. Bridget tried not to laugh at the sight of a young boy having more courage than that steward.  She reached forward and took the paper. 

“What’s your name?” asked Bridget. 

“Albert,” said the boy. Bridget nodded and signed the autograph. What motivational thing should she write? 

She wrote: “Albert, you are a brave and awesome fan,” and handed it back to him. 

“Thank you, you’re so awesome,” said Albert and hopped back to her family.  

Briget smirked. “So are you. Go get those dreams!” 

She gave the kid a fist salute. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. Our arrival to Planet 458-C will begin shortly,” announced the pilot over the intercom system.

It interrupted her line of thought and shook her head. She shouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts, even if they were true. 

As soon as the train entered standard orbit, Bridget unbuckled herself and walked out of her seat. The aisle was narrow and she had to bump and squeeze past others gently to not squeeze them too hard. Against her body, they all felt like foam. When she got to the portal exit, she followed the crowd, got her bag and emerged into Planet 458-C’s LSR train terminal.

A flurry of flashes, several camera lenses and hordes of microphones thrusted in front of her.  

“Miss Ebony, can you comment on the kidnapping?” 

“Bridget, is it true that non-powereds kidnapped you?” 

“Mrs. Ebony, was it possible that you could have been faking the kidnapping?” 

“Ms. Ebony, how will this affect your careers in sport and security?” 

Bridget walked right into a large crowd of reporters. Neerg was a getaway from the hordes of sports media and paparazzi. She had hoped to avoid them on Planet 458-C by only letting people she trusted know that she would be here. 

“Look guys, you’re awesome for coming out, but I need some space,” said Bridget. “I’m just here to support my team and to take a break. No comments, no questions today.” 

One reporter and a camera person flew in close to her, that camera pointed straight at her. “Miss Ebony, there were reports of a quake within Brahma on Neerg. Did you attempt to transform back to normal to defend yourself?” 

Bridget’s jaw clenched. 

“Miss Ebony, did you intend on sacrificing the city to defeat the villains?” 

“Don’t answer that Bridget,” said a familiar voice. Another tall female elf shoved reporters aside as she made her way through the crowd. 

“Violet, thank the Goddess,” Bridget whispered. 

Violet Shad was slightly taller than Bridget, but not nearly as bulky. Her sleek feminine musculature still placed her above most of the reporters there. She wore a black leather jacket and matching boots with a sports bra that showed off her well trimmed waist. Her black hair was long and flowing, tied behind her neck with long pointy ears sticking out. Her brown eyes locked onto Bridget’s green ones. 

“What are you doing here?” asked Bridget. 

“Taking care of my most important client, teammate and friend,” answered Violet. She wrapped her arm around Bridget’s shoulder. “Let’s get you out of here. Talking to these vultures isn’t worth it.” 

Violet led Bridget outside. The reporters continued to follow Bridget kept walking forward, following Violet’s footsteps. 

“Come on, come on, they can’t stop us,” Violet urged, pulling Bridget harder. Bridget broke into a jog to keep up with Violet, bumping and shoving more reporters aside as they did. 

Once they made it outside, Violet grinned. “Let’s fly,” Violet pressed a button on her watch and her boots sank into the ground before she hovered. 

Bridget placed her large bag on her back and pressed a button on her belt which did the same. The two Nyxazons flew into the air. A few reporters kept up behind them in the air and flew after them with impressive speed. 

Violet smirked. “Not bad, but let’s show them what our blessed Nyxazon legs can do.” 

With one flex of their legs, the Nyxazons zoomed and broke the sound barrier several times over. It only took a couple seconds to get out of reach as they disappeared into the horizon. 

Minutes later, they arrived at a penthouse condo a couple thousand kilometers away. The building’s structure had density fields to reinforce its structure. 

“Make yourself at home,” said Violet, as she threw her jacket on a couch. 

The penthouse was very spacious and was well furnished.  There were a couple couches and seats in the living room. A television screen ran from  floor to ceiling. In the kitchen, a massive refrigerator took up half the room filled with dense foods. 

Bridget laid her bag down and took a seat on one of the couches. “Finally, I have a place to relax,” she said.   

Violet sat next to her, smirking. “You look good. Have you put on some weight since the last time I saw you?” 

Bridget laughed. “Yeah, a few tons. You know me, more time to eat, train and sleep.” 

Violet crossed her legs and leaned against the back of the couch. “So what’s been going on? How have you been handling the whole kidnapping thing?” 

“Not great. All I thought about was what happened and if I shouldn’t have fallen victim to them.” Bridget clenched her fist. “I’d crush Rose like a bug if he didn’t fool me. “ 

Violet frowned. “You and me both, sister. He was wise to run.” 

Bridget rubbed her forehead. “People can’t help themselves from kicking us when we’re down.” 

“They’re scared of us, Bridget.” 

“I know. I’ve been hearing more of that hate of us. I had no idea that transforming, even slowly, would have brought so much attention.” 

“I had a lot of people call me for a comment about that as your agent. When you score two hundred tries in a game, I get only a handful of calls. But this time, I had to switch my phone number.”

“Goddesses, it’s that’s bad?” 

Violet nodded. “I’m on your side. I would have done it too if I had a man disobey me that much. So many ways I’d put him in his place. But then that was his plan wasn’t it?” 

“He knows a lot about Nyxazons as well as my last CO.”

“You don’t have to worry about that now. It’s all in the past and most of them are in custody, right?” 

“That Rose guy is still on the loose.” 

“His spikes won’t hurt.” 

“His cunning did.” 

Violet bit her lip, then nodded. “That’s why we have each other, right?” She leaned on Bridget’s shoulder. “We’re all sisters here and we learn from each other and grow stronger for it.” 

Bridget returned the gesture and placed an arm around Violet. “Thanks Violet. Goddess, I missed you.” 

Violet giggled. “I missed you too. So how long are you staying with us?” 

“I don’t know,” said Bridget. “At least a couple days,” 

Violet got up and pouted. “A couple days? Come on, you’re not getting bored of us already, are you?”

“No, no, no, Violet. I have responsibilities to attend to and I have to be ready when things happen. Besides, I’ll only be a distraction to the team.”

Violet caressed Bridget’s cheek lovingly. “I’m only teasing. We’re happy to have you here whenever you can for whatever long you want. You deserve to be happy too. Who else can we use as our measuring stick when it comes to our power ratings?”

Now it was Bridget’s turn to pout. “I’m not just a stick, I’m an awesome tower of power that can’t be measured!” 

They both laughed at that joke. 

“So, have anything special planned?” asked Violet. 

“Train and eat and I want to hit something really hard.” 

Violet reached into the fridge and pulled out a jumbo sized energy bar. It was about the size and density of a large slab of concrete. Violet tossed Bridget the slab and a giant bottle of water. 

Bridget opened the water bottle and drank a mouthful. She then began tearing away at the slab, munching away. 

“Bridget, the Nyxazons are the most powerful women in the universe,” declared Violet. “We have to be strong to protect ourselves from harm,” 

Bridget finished her water and set the empty bottle down. “You should have seen one of the stewards on the train when he realized I was a Nyxazon and not a man.” 

Violet zipped away and grabbed another energy bar and took a few bites. “Nothing we can do about that. It’s them, not us.” 

Bridget nodded. “So when is practice?” 

“In about half an hour,” Violet said.

“We should get going.” 

Both Bridget and Violet finished their food and drinks. 

Violet burped out a blast of air that rattled the room. “Excuse me.” 

Bridget patted her back and laughed. “Better?” 

Violet burped again. “Thanks Nana Nyxazon.”  

Bridget shoulder checked Violet. “Ha, shut up and fly.”