SuperbGal fluttered her eyes as consciousness returned once more, it was an all too familiar feeling these days as the villains seemed to have her number no matter what she did. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd woken up in some brightly lit lair with a dozen different armatures flailing around her.
Of course her near invulnerability and super strength always made short work of them, but as her eyes fluttered for longer than normal, something seemed off this time.
First of all, from the brief flashes of the room she got between flutters, it was mostly dark and there appeared to only be a single large display hanging a few feet in front of her.
Secondly, and most troubling as well, was that she had been pulling at whatever had held her down since the first flutter of her eyes and it was hadn't broken yet.
She pushed her eyes closed for a second and then opened them wide, forcing them to stay that way as she managed to get a better look at the room. She tried to look to the side, but like her arms and legs, she found it impossible as several straps held her head firmly in place.
She focused on her right arm and pulled as hard as she could, to no avail. It was strange, it felt like simple leather, not even steel, that bound her and she didn't feel weakened, per se, but she still couldn't break free.
Normally in this kind of situation, where her strength was obviously gone, it was because of the presence of Radionite, a radioactive substance from her dead home world. But she was overtly familiar with how Radionite made feel, and this wasn't it.
Radionite made her feel sick, nauseous, unwell. None of that was present now, she felt fine and even invigorated to some degree. Her strength was simply nowhere to be found. There were other things that felt off, but she couldn't connect any of them together and none of them felt like anything she'd experienced before.
She changed tactics and focused her inviso vision to penetrate through the display in front of her and out to wherever they were, but just like her strength, there was no effect. Switching to her laser vision she focused on the display to no effect.
It seemed all of her powers were being suppressed somehow. She struggled against the bonds once more, trying as hard as she could to break them, until finally giving up.
A slow clapping came from behind her, just to her right, "Very good SuperbGal, I'm glad to see there's still some fight in you." came the familiar voice of The Geneticist as he walked around in front of her and into her sight line.
"Let me go right now! Or when I get out I'll break every bone in your body." she replied with as much menace as she could muster in her current situation.
He'd been after her for years, but other than his genius-level intellect, he had never been a match for her. In fact, she couldn't recall the last time he'd come after her. She scrunched her forehead trying to remember what had happened, she couldn't remember fighting him, instead, the last thing she remembered was fighting... DollMan?
Yes, that perverted villain had a whole new set of dolls to fight her and they'd been stronger than ever.
"I see you're a little confused about the events that have lead you to your current circumstances. Well, let me fill in some of the blanks for you. After your last fight with DollMan, who by the way, trounced you completely, DollMan reached out to the community to see what should be done with you."
She snorted when he said "community", what he meant was obviously the other super-villains that she'd fought over the years.
"You see, even with the little bit of Radionite he had come into possession of, he knew he couldn't keep you long term. So instead he asked if anyone else had some use for you.
I have to admit that I had given up on capturing you, I hadn't tried in what, at least a year, maybe two?" he asked only half rhetorically before continuing on.
"But the opportunity to study your genetics was too much to pass up and so after a brief negotiation, here you are."
"I don't know what you expect to learn, but I won't be here long enough for you to find out." she snarled back at him.
"Oh, yes, well perhaps I should have been more specific. When I said 'here you are' I probably should have said, 'here you are... now', as now is most definitely not when you think it is."
SuperbGal had a sinking feeling as he spoke, "What do you mean... how... how long have I been here?" she replied with less certainty in her voice.
"Ah, well, let's see now..." he said, faking a look at his watch for effect, "...just over a month by the looks of it." he replied with a wicked grin on his lips.
A month? Where were her friends? Why hadn't they come to rescue her?
"Ah yes... you're friends." he said, almost reading her mind, and reached into his pocket, fishing out a small black remote and pointing it at the display in front of her.
It came to life with a newscast, the reporter starting to speak but the words above him making it obvious what the segment would be about, "SuperbGal Retires!"
"Impossible!" she blurted out over the announcer's voice, but a few moments later she was stunned as the program switched to a full-screen video of herself standing behind a podium.
The perfect imposter stood with confidence and poise as SuperbGal's voice announced her own retirement. It went on for several minutes, giving reasons, including the increased threats she was facing and a desire to spend more time with friends and family.
"H... how?" she managed to get out halfway through the video.
"Oh, DollMan was more than happy to provide one of his LiveDolls to fill in for you. Oh, we had to avoid any big fights with major players of course. His LiveDolls are tough, but not that tough."
SuperbGal's mouth was agape as the video finished and the immaculate imposter, even down to her long dirty blonde hair and makeup, walked out of frame. The Geneticist once more pointed the control at the monitor and shut it off before placing it in his pocket.
"The LiveDoll is still filling in for you, of course, its managed to cut off contact with most of your hero friends and the majority of your secret identity friends as well. It's moved to Europe to retire and will move again in a month or so to cut the last ties with your cousin. He'll understand of course, he only wants the best for you after all." The Geneticist said with a chuckle at the end.
She flailed at the straps that held her down again, trying desperately to get out of them. She eventually stopped when they refused to budge even an inch.
"There we go, now perhaps you'd like to know what I've been doing with you for the last month?"
She glared at him, "Fine, yes." she huffed in response.
"Well, the first two weeks you spent in a third generation GenePod I've developed."
Her eyebrow raised slightly, she knew his GenePod's were the core of his genius, they could decode and alter DNA in a living being, but they couldn't penetrate her alien DNA or body.