Scarlet lies in a hotel bed, leaning against the board with a pillow propping her up. With her arms crossed, she turns to the window as sirens and police lights whiz by, briefly lighting up the early morning sky. The lights flash against the high-rise skyscrapers, clashing with the light of the rising sun. The man sleeping next to her turns over, awakened by the noise. He opens his eyes, and as soon as he lays eyes on Scalet, smiles.
"You're so beautiful," he mumbles, reaching up to brush her arm.
Without smiling, Scarlet turns away from him, "Thanks."
"Is this...going to become something more than just...I don't know, this? Because, I don't usually do more than the one night thing but...I think you're different-"
"A lot of guys have said that," she grumbles.
The man nods, "Well, yeah, I'm sure many men have-"
Just then, Scarlet's cell phone, sitting on the nightstand, goes off. With lightning speed, she grabs it, getting out of bed and holding it up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Erotica, you're needed down in headquarters," a relaxed male voice answers on the other side.
"On it," she hangs up, and still naked, starts grabbing her clothes that have been flung around the hotel room.
The man turns over in the bed sheets, "You're leaving already?"
"I've got work," she grumbles, shimmying on her lacy red underwear.
"Work? At this hour-...on no, don't tell me you're a prostitute, because I can't pay-...I...I mean, I could totally pay-"
"Save it," she interrupts, "I'm not a prostitute."
The man gives a sigh of relief, "Oh, that's great, So...will I see you again?"
"Doubt it. I'm like you, I only really do the one night thing. Most people, around me, are too friendly for my taste," she explains, throwing on her purple blouse and tight miniskirt.
Confused, he further questions, "'Too friendly'? Ha...I can see why, but why would that be a bad thing?"
About to open the door, Scarlet turns around to face the man, "They're not friendly because they think I'm a nice person, I'm not a nice person. They're 'friendly', or rather lusty, because I make them that way."
The headquarters of the Justice Corp is abuzz with activity, with large glass windows overlooking the city, along with many brightly-lit screens displaying various information. As employees in casual suits pass through the stone floor hallways, some of them are pushed by the tall, lanky man carrying several stacked boxes.
"Excuse me! Coming through!"
There are some gasps as he bumps into several other employees. Even with his rude intrusions of other people, his pace refuses to slow as he occasionally peers out from behind the boxes, revealing a goofy smile and protruding teeth.
He's suddenly stopped by a plastic stick poking at his knee. He turns to his left to find an older man with a white cane and dark sunglasses.
"I take it from the commotion you must be Marcus Kaufman," his voice is calm, relaxing even.
Marcus puts down the cardboard boxes to shake the man's hand, "Yes sir, yes sir! And you must be Mr. Crosby! Wow, it's nice to meet you!"
"Yes, well, welcome to Justice Corp. I will be your boss for now on. Let me show you to my office," Mr. Crosby starts shuffling down the hallway, his white cane tapping in front of him, feeling for any obstacles.
Boxes in tow, Marcus follows Mr. Crosby to a somewhat spacious office, with a large, heavy desk in the center with bookshelves and plant decorations lining the walls. Once Mr. Crosby reaches his desk, he pushes a small button on it, and a slit in the ceiling opens up to bring down a large screen. Marcus puts down his heavy load to watch.
"I'm one of Justice Corp's many Hero Managers. Because heroes can be such a handful, managers only take on one or two at a time. For me, I only have one..."
The screen lights up, revealing the profile of the superheroine Erotica, along with various information as well as a straight profile picture of her in costume. Despite Erotica only being shown from the neck up, whilst not even smiling in the photo, a grin grows on Marcus' face.
"Beautiful," he mumbles.
"If you're already saying that before you've even met her, I'm afraid you're going to be in for a lot of trouble," Mr. Crosby warns him.
The screen changes to a more detailed biography of Erotica, as Mr. Crosby summarizes the information, "Erotica's power is sexual irresistibility, in both men and women, transmitted through physical sight, and further empowered by physical touch. Anyone who lays eyes on her will become attracted to her, with very few exceptions. We generally tend to match her up against...emotionally weak opponents, since the severity of her powers effects can vary."
"Like what?" Marcus asks.
"Well, you could be blind, like me, but it's hard to find technicians who are blind," Mr. Crosby explains, "so, because we know you won't be able to resist her abilities, we just pick people we hope will be undesirable to her."
The smile on Marcus' face disappears, "I-...I see. Of course, that makes sense. And here I thought I was...constantly resubmitting my resume to Justice Corp to be hired for my technical skill-"
Mr. Crosby shakes his head, "No, no, Marcus, your work is rather impressive, and your background is completely clean. You'll do a great job inventing new gadgetry for Erotica."
Just then, the door to Mr. Crosby's office opens, as a woman wearing a revealing black cocktail dress with matching mask and high heels walks in.
"Ah, Erotica! Perfect timing," Mr. Crosby welcomes her, "this is why I brought you here. This is your new Gadgetry Specialist, Marcus Kaufman."
The nervous Marcus, although standing almost a foot above Erotica, still hesitates as he approaches her, reaching his hand out for her to shake. Erotica simply steps away, leaving him hanging.
"It's...it's a pleasure to meet you...Erotica," Marcus can barely stutter out his words as he lowers his hand.
"Same...hey Joe, exactly how...qualified is this guy?" Erotica turns and asks Mr. Crosby.
"Oh, and can show you my inventions right now if you'd like!" Marcus offers, running over to his stack of boxes.
Grabbing the top box from his stack, Marcus opens it up and pulls out a tube of lipstick, "Check this out!"
He pops open the cap to reveal a bright red color. He aims it at a nearby decorative plant and fires, blasting the pot to smithereens with a flash of red laser light.
Erotica crosses her arms and shakes her head, "Yeah, laser lipstick? Seen it, buddy."
Without saying a word, Marcus presses the bottom of the lipstick tube, only to have the red lipstick inside change color before their eyes into a light blue. He aims the tube at a bookshelf and fires, this time letting out a blue jet of light that creates a large, bright icicle on top of the bookshelf, causing it to fall over completely.
"Oh my, looks like I'll have to get Damage Control down here," Mr. Crosby frets.
Marcus turns around, "Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Crosby. If you want me to stop I'll-"
"No, continue on. That's why you're here after all."
Marcus hands the tube of lipstick to Erotica, "There are also several other functions for the lipstick, including a taser and a built-in tracking device. Just press the bottom to switch functions."
After examining the tube, Erotica shrugs, "As far as first impressions go, I'm...not disappointed. Anything else you've been working on?"
"Oh yes, of course!" he declares, running back over to dig into his cardboard box, "I have a cross-body purse that inflates into a jetpack and lifeboat, high heels with retractable knives, mascara brushes that double as knock-out darts..."
Erotica walks over to Marcus and peers over his shoulder, looking into his box of inventions, "Do you...spend all of your free time modulating women's products?"
"Well, I've never tried anything with a feminine hygiene product, but if that's what you want, I'd gladly figure something out!" he offers, without any hint of irony.
She purses her lips, "Uhm...no, not what I meant."
Continuing to look into the box, Erotica spots something strange lying in the corner, "What's that?"
She gestures to the shiny, bright pink object sticking out of the corner of the box. Marcus' cheeks immediately flush red, "Uh...well, that's something that's not quite ready yet-"
Before he can stop her, Erotica grabs the item. It turns out to be a large pink dildo, about eight inches long, with a thick shaft and protruding head. As her hands grasp around the object, it becomes warm in her hands.
"Ah, uhm, well, how do I explain this one? I thought it might work as an interrogation device, you know, for...trying to convince them...to our side?" Marcus explains.
Erotica tests the flexibility of the dildo, pressing her finger on the tip and giving it a flick. Sure enough, the rubbery dildo waves back and forth, although somehow, as it sways to-and-fro, it's movements seem almost a little too tight, too controlled.
"Should I even ask as to how it works?" she snaps at Marcus, holding up the dildo.
