"Excellent work out there, Mighty Woman," the man said. "I'm glad to see you back in the field."
Michelle grimaced. A few hours having passed since the battle, she found herself in a military base near the capital. Her costume had mostly repaired itself, and her womb had mostly been drained of the villain's seed, but her stomach was still somewhat swollen. Almost immediately after the battle, she had been ordered there for a debriefing, and a conversation with Malcolm Maddison. Head of the Department of Superhuman Affairs, he was a tall, muscular man with a handsome face and a bald head.
"Well, I'm just glad I could help," Michelle replied.
"You'd sound more heroic if you smiled when you said things like that," Malcolm said with a laugh. "You haven't cracked one since you got here."
Michelle crossed her arms. It was easy for him to say that. These suits didn't need to fly into the field to do any real work, and they'd certainly never been publicly humiliated and violated like she had.
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm not looking to sound heroic," she muttered.
"So, I take it you'll be retiring again?" he asked.
"You brought me back because most of the Hero Society's members are off-world, right?" she questioned. "I might stick around for a while. The people need a hero who's actually going to stay on this planet."
"Excellent!" Malcolm exclaimed. "It may not have been my intention, but I'd hoped this battle might inspire you return. I've been a big fan of Mighty Woman since I was a kid."
"I wish everyone else was as thrilled about it as you are," Michelle sighed. "I think most of the world was more excited to see my chest than to see me saving them."
"Hey, it's not everyday you get to see a superhero naked," he told her. "Give them some time. I'm sure people will come around."
"Maybe," she murmured. "Do you mind if I keep the costume? It might be a bit revealing, but it's quite the upgrade from what I have at home."
Malcolm's smiled faded. "That's where things get a bit complicated. If things were up to me, then yes, but I'm not in charge. If you want to continue doing hero work, you're going to need a sponsor."
"A sponsor?" she asked.
"Things are different than they were when you left," he explained. "It's too dangerous to have masked vigilantes running around with no oversight. You remember the Turbo Teens incident."
Michelle nodded. It had happened shortly after her retirement. An alien force had come to the planet, though their intentions had been unclear. While the earth's heroes and governments had tried to negotiate with the aliens, the Turbo Teens, a group of rebellious heroes determined to leave their mark on the world, attacked. They had managed to wipe out the aliens, but at the cost of three of their own and half a city. It had been later that it was learned that the aliens wished to form an alliance with earth to defend against a much greater threat.
"Alright, so you need to keep tabs on heroes," said Michelle. "I don't see what this has to do with sponsors. Can't you just monitor what I'm doing when I'm on duty?"
"That would be ideal," said Malcolm, "but there are two big issues with that. First, you've made it pretty clear that you don't want to be an agent of the state. Second, my superiors aren't exactly keen on working with you after your public condemnation of the war in--"
"You mean invasion," Michelle interrupted.
"And that's exactly the problem," he sighed.
"Okay, so that's not going to work, but there are other options, right?" she asked. "You wouldn't have brought it up otherwise."
"There were options," Malcolm said. "When you first started touring, thousands of sponsors were looking to get their hands on you. Unfortunately, most of them became less enthusiastic after your performance in Haven City."
"That wasn't my fault!" she snapped.
"Yes, yes, I know," Malcolm insisted, "but these brands don't want to associate with that kind of thing. Like you said, people are more focused on your chest than your deeds right now."
"Okay, so what?" she huffed. "Is that it then? You brought me here to tell me that I just can't be a hero?"
"No, not quite," he said. "There is one sponsor still interested in you. In fact, what happened in Haven only made them want you more."
"And they are?" Michelle asked impatiently.
"Hero X," Malcolm told her. "They focus on the production and distribution of adult entertainment featuring superpowered individuals."
"A porn studio?!" she demanded. "What, you want me to be some superpowered pornstar?!"
She stopped dead in her tracks, a scowl on her face. She clenched her fists together, trying to contain her anger, but her trembling alone was enough to shake the hallway. Malcolm had expected a reaction like this, but he hadn't thought of how, exactly, to deal with this situation.
"Hang on now," he said. "You won't be a pornstar. Hero X will just own the rights to your name and likeness. At worst, films and toys will be made based on you."
Michelle didn't even listen. As the man prattled on, she let herself rise off of the ground. Holding in all the things she wanted to say, she shot out of the building and took to the sky. She couldn't spend one more second listening to Malcolm try to sell her on working for a porn company. Besides, she had a family to get back to.
Malcolm sighed as he watched Mighty Woman fly off. He certainly couldn't blame her frustration and anger about her current situation. The chance of any respectable sponsor backing out after Breeder X's defilement would have soured anyone's mood. But what did she expect? Like it or not, the woman had been a sex symbol all her life. Hero X was always in the running for those sorts of Capes. If the company didn't wallow in its sleaziness, their profits would be incredible. Instead, they take pride in making their heroes cram themselves into revealing outfits two sizes too small and selling all sorts of related product. They were unabashedly appealing to a common denominator lower than most others, and Mighty Woman had just shown how intense that market could be.
A contingent of armored soldiers made their way to the doorway of the room Malcolm was stationed in.
"Sir, it's ready."
Nodding, the head of the DSA followed them out to the makeshift base. Various aerial transports had arrived, and convoys of armored vehicles had arrived from Haven City proper. As each was opened, it was clear just what they were doing. Women, most of them pregnant, were escorted out by heavily armed and armored soldiers. The DSA had made headway rounding up and pacifying the members of Breeder X's Sisterhood and had prepared them for transportation offsite. Many of them looked dejected and broken; their God cast down and defeated, his vision unfulfilled.
Malcolm overlooked their procession into the aircraft that would carry them away. This "Breeder X" had laid the foundation for a super powered army. How could any responsible government let resources like that go unchecked? Inside each of these women was a child with the potential to rival the strength of some of the world's greatest heroes. A rogue superhuman could never be trusted with that sort of responsibility, but perhaps the DSA could. Regardless, those plans were months away from coming to fruition. No one at the DSA had any idea what Breeder X was capable of, so much study would be required.
As the last transport arrived, a sealed metal casket was hauled off the back. Malcolm walked down personally to inspect it. Inside was the comatose Breeder X, having descended into a trance as his body went about healing itself from the thorough beatdown he had just received. Depending on how things play out, the super human's vision of a peaceful world might not turn out to be so far fetched.
With a nod, Malcolm cleared the group to go. Although the main fight was over, there were still undoubtedly pockets of Sisterhood resistance inside the city, and civil services that needed toe be quickly reinstated. It was never a fun job, but the DSA wasn't created for those. As he walked back towards his command post, Malcolm's phone rang. Checking it, he saw it was a call from Carl Vespucci, a representative of Hero X. As the head of the DSA, it was another facet of Malcolm's job to interact with the heads of these sponsorships. With a sigh, Malcolm answered the call: "Yes, Carl?"
"Mr. Maddison! My favorite government agent. How was my prospective recruit after the show?"