It was true to say that all of Omen City was surprised by the news of Supremacy's demise. If you were to say that all (bar the villains) were heavily shaken, few would correct you, although that statement would not be entirely accurate. There was one person of the heroic sort who instead saw humour in the fate of the city's mightiest icon - and it was precisely that title which was the reason for it. Eloquence, superpowered warrior princess of the island of Tallahan, matched Supremacy in both power and approval while he still lived, and completely dwarfed him in success. She shared his resistances, had comparable (arguably greater) strength, and on top of that she could actually fly. She was no less skilled with her fists than he was, but relied less upon them - Eloquence also made use of a pair of silver bracers which could store and discharge electrical shocks, a confining whip which bound anybody it contacted and pulled tighter at the slightest struggle, and a tiara which was sharp enough at its crown to cut through almost any material that the human world could offer.
Despite all of this, Supremacy remained the poster boy - the one who all eyes followed, the one who was called when the danger was the greatest. Eloquence had never found a chance to test herself against Supremacy directly while he lived, something which she deeply regretted, but the armoured princess found consolation in the fact that his final end came so abruptly and ignobly. Found stripped and killed, with his own jizz covering his chest. How pathetically humbling.
The two heroes had first appeared in the city during the same year, Eloquence three months before Supremacy, twenty three years ago. She had found him an irritating loser even then, and always knew she was his superior. Now that he was gone, the stage was at last set for the 44-year-old Eloquence to take her rightful position as Omen City's finest, in her gold-highlighted silver plate of Tallahan design. She intended to take quick advantage of this at her very next opportunity - and, precisely one week after Supremacy's fall, this opportunity came to her when an old rival of hers reared her head once more. Eloquence was overjoyed - at last, the princess would receive the proper royal recognition that she so deserved from the imbecilic populace which she protected.
Phyxia, the villainess in question and former crime boss, was presumed to have retired from her life of crime almost twelve years ago after Eloquence had defeated her (and saved an injured Supremacy in the act). The one-sided fight had ended with Eloquence tossing Phyxia from her airborne blimp and into the stormy ocean waters beneath. This was the result of several months' worth of investigation into Phyxia, the rising crime boss who had slowly started to take over Omen City's criminal underbelly. It seemed that she must have survived the encounter, and decided to return now that Supremacy was out of the picture - a villainess calling herself by the same name had publicised a video threatening the city's Mayor. If Phyxia thought she was safe, just because that oaf Supremacy was dead, then she had another thing coming - she would never underestimate Tallahan's princess again.
Supremacy dead, an old and powerful crime boss reappearing - this was just what Eloquence needed to turn the public eye to herself fully at last.
If Phyxia had wanted something physical, she wouldn't have made herself known. Eloquence concluded, then, that what the dastardly villainess wanted was to sow chaos and to be known. She wanted the city to be afraid, and she wanted to establish herself as the thing to be feared. In taking out the Mayor, when the city had been forewarned of her intentions, she would prove that nothing she wanted was beyond her grasp. Doubtless, then, she would be more than willing to reveal herself publicly - and besides that, she surely must have harboured some hatred towards Eloquence specifically (it was her who defeated Phyxia, after all - not Supremacy!). All signs led Eloquence to believe that Phyxia would accept any challenge which Eloquence publicly laid out for her. With that decided, Eloquence turned on her laptop's webcam to record a quick video of herself, not knowing that it would be one of the last records the public would have of her...
A short time later, the video was published, and Eloquence leaned back in her chair with a smile. The conditions were clear - she would be waiting for Phyxia, fully dressed in her princess' plate armour, at a location away from any civilians. On a "whim", she'd chosen the city's other powerplant from where Supremacy had taken his last breath. It seemed the most logical location, of course! She meant to prove nothing. Besides that, her electrically charged silver bracers provided more than enough excuse for her decision if any nosy reporter ever decided to look into her choice any further. There, two hours from now, the two would fight once again.
With that finished, Eloquence drank the last of her special brew of tea, and left to get changed into her armour.
*****************************
Ten minutes until Phyxia's deadline. Eloquence had certainly though about preparing some sort of trap for the villainess, but instead settled for just charging her bracers to the maximum. The woman was confident that she herself was all the snare that was needed.
Eloquence stretched her chest forward, hands on her back, as she stood and waited for Phyxia's arrival. Phyxia's powers were never made known to Eloquence. All the same, that hadn't stopped her from winning decisively in their last bout. She scanned the power plant with her eyes once more - still empty.
Eloquence wasn't quite the woman she once was. After so many years of hero work, and being past her prime at 44 years old, the still-strong heroine was certainly on the decline. A few small wrinkles here and there, occasional minor joint pain, sometimes she would even find herself needing to pause mid-flight to catch her breath. It was nothing major, but it did quite dishearten the princess. She needed this win to prove to herself that she still had it. Her superhuman abilities ensured that the more overhanging parts of her body sagged only minimally, and though her strength was beneath its peak it was still incredibly impressive. Even still, the princess would make good use of this confidence boost. Besides that, Phyxia would surely be facing similar worries, right? Likely to greater extremes, since she didn't have the benefit of Eloquence's innate body-toning abilities.
The princess was broken from her thoughts at the clacking sound of heeled footsteps on concrete. Spinning around, she saw a woman who she could only assume to be Phyxia approaching. Her face and body were covered by clothing, and she wore dark sunglasses. A cocky smile took to Eloquence's face as she put a hand on her hip and struck a heroic pose.
"Glad to see you again!" Eloquence called to the still-approaching woman. "What, afraid you'd run into trouble on your way here?"
"Something like that." The woman replied, taking her sunglasses from her face with one hand and tossing them to the side. Her sparkling brown eyes stared confidently into Eloquence's own, then ran themselves across the heroine's sparkling fine metal armour as she continued her approach. Eloquence's heart beat fast as Phyxia began unwinding the scarf which covered her mouth with one hand and pulling back the hood which covered her face with the other.
Eloquence had to stifle a gasp. This woman - doubtlessly Phyxia by her appearance - seemed not to have aged a day since their last encounter. Her skin was robust and clear, her facial features pert and her body elastic as she stripped down further until her torso was covered only by her (tight in the chest department) white dress shirt and black tie. She rolled up the shirt's sleeves past her elbows as she came to a stop roughly ten metres in front of Eloquence, striking a pose of her own. The princess couldn't help herself but gawk at her one-time-nemesis' body - Phyxia was always younger than Eloquence, roughly 26 to Eloquence's 32 in their last encounter, but the difference was never this defined. And beyond that, the usually reserved heroine had forgotten just quite how alluring Phyxia's body was. Bright, glowing cheeks, those starlike sparkling eyes, her generous chest, her fully packing buttox...
"Eyes up here, Eloquence." Phyxia smiled at the heroine, who jolted her gaze back up to her enemy's eyes and began stammering out a lame explanation to excuse her actions. "Are we going to do this, or would you like me to pop a few buttons?"
