What's Yours Is Mine!

(Just a little superpowered matrimony-themed standalone story for you all)

It had been a joyous time for Kate. She'd first met Ethan just two years before and was swept off of her feet, falling in love in a way she didn't think was possible. Not because she was somehow unlovable, but because of her way of life. She was secretly a superhero by trade you see, and that existence didn't exactly lend itself to a successful, long-standing relationship. Too many lies, too many risks. Worst of all, your other half would end up being a target. She knew that.

As a result, she bit the bullet and told Ethan the truth early on in their romance, that she was indeed 'MegaDame'. But, much to her surprise, he didn't seem too amazed or worried about it. In fact, she was shocked at how calm he took it all in. He was genuienly willing to put his neck on the line for her.

Things had, in fairness, gotten a lot quieter the last few seasons. Her mysterious arch-rival, who mockingly referred to himself as 'MegaDoom' no longer seemed to be willing to terrorize the city after their latest duel. She had apparently finally beaten him into submission, and hoped that things would stay rather settled like this so she and Ethan could actually live a relatively normal life together.

It was their wedding day now, and Kate was busy fitting on her dress for the final time. As she stared in the giant mirror before her she liked what she saw. Her toned arms stood out against the white gown and her veil only concealed some of her shiny blonde hair that flowed down around her shoulders. The fabric also sat comfortably around her curvy frame. So happy was she at how it fit her, she couldn't help but let out a big toothy smile. Yes, it wouldn't be long now until she was walking down the isle.

There would be no one else there for the ceremony, however. Ethan had little to no family and Kate's were far away, so they decided it really would be an intimate affair. She didn't care, though, as she just wanted him. The only other person present would be a friend of Ethan's. They were there to bare witness to the union, but also there to hand the rings over.

Ah, the rings. She was looking forward to that part. However, little did she know that her beau, Ethan, was looking forward to it even more, and for an altogether different reason...

In painful ignorance, she slowly and gracefully stepped down the isle until she stood by his side. On the other was his friend, whom he simply called Caroline. Kate didn't recognise her at first, yet noticed that she seemed rather withdrawn. Not so much shy, but cautious. Strange as it was, she still somehow felt familiar to her. Ethan had said she was OK, though, and that was all Kate needed to hear. But Caroline just stood there in an unnerving way and refused to even make eye contact. It didn't matter, as in a few moments they'd part ways, and the two lovers would set sail.

But when the short ceremony was almost complete, and Caroline was asked for the rings, she hesitated.

"Caroline," said Ethan quietly but impatiently. "The rings."

She eventually gave them up and placed the box in his hands. He smiled nervously while removing them both. First he placed one on his own finger before offering the second to Kate. She took it willingly and raised her finger so it could be pushed into place. She noticed then, however, Ethan pushing it aggresively as if to make sure it was fully on. If she wasn't so resilient due to her superpowers it might have even marked or cut her finger.

"Are you OK?" she asked him. "Be careful, you don't need to rush it."

Ethan smiled mischievously then.

"Am I OK?" he said, raising his hand up and admiring the ring on his finger. "I'm better than OK now...you fool."

"What? Why did you just call me a fool?"

With that, and inexplicably, Ethan clenched his fist and punched the superhero through the first few pews of the church. To say that Kate was horrified but also bewildered would be an understatement. Not only had her lover just struck her for no reason, but no one had ever been able to fell her like that in all of her time fighting crime. He wasn't just strong, he had become super strong.

As the priest ran from the altar in fear, Ethan walked to and stood over MegaDame then, grabbing her throat and lifting her off the ground with ease.

"Oh dear, your wedding dress is ruined now," he said in a mocking tone.

"Why are you doing this? How are you doing this?" she asked, struggling to break free.

He punched her in the stomach, and, this time, left her scrambling near the back pews of the church.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, stepping towards her again. "I'm your mortal enemy. The one whose fate is linked to yours. The one you've had the most battles with."

"MegaDoom?!" she cried.

"Yes," he said, his identity finally revealed. "When you beat me to a bloody pulp I was forced to lick my wounds and dream up a fresh way of defeating you. Your strength and endurance was impossible to overcome, so I thought, why not take them for myself? Well, it took me a while to figure out a way of doing it, and that's when I came up with the rings."

Kate looked down at hers, and immediately tried to pull it free, but sadly to no avail.

"Oh, it won't come off easily?" he laughed. "I designed it to be that way. See, it transfers your powers into me. What's mine is yours, or in this instance I guess, what's yours is mine!"

"Why all of this, though?" she grunted. "Why the sham love story, the wedding?"

"I knew there'd be no way to physically make you put on the ring, but I wondered then if I could come up with an elaborate way to trick you into willingly putting one on. And it worked! I guess I found your one weakness, MegaDame. And it was actually love. I mean, what else is new? Indeed, it made you stupid and vulnerable. I exploited that, of course, and now here you are. How funny and fitting it is that we'd be married like this considering our shared history."

He tried punching her again, yet this time she raised a hand and stopped him, holding his fist in place. Understandably, she had a look of disdain on her face, and as they stared in each other's eyes, tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Yes, but I never said 'I do'," she whispered back.

In her rage, she actually began to overpower him in that moment, leaving Doom altogether shocked.

"Wait, this shouldn't be happening," he said. "You should be losing your strength. I even feel myself getting stronger, yet you're not weakening at all!"

He turned his head and looked to Caroline who was actually his scientist and partner in crime, Dr. Daze. The mysterious woman then removed her large shades and let them fall to the ground.

"What's going on? She should be completely drained by now."

MegaDame also turned to face her and finally remembered who she was. Daze had been a former associate. A wannabe sidekick. While too weak physically to fight with her on the streets she'd offered to overcome enemies by Dame's side by developing weapons to defeat the likes of Doom, but now apparently had sided with him upon rejection from Dame who had deemed her inventions too dangerous. Kate also realized that it was likely through her that Ethan learned of her secret identity thus allowing him to target and woo her for her powers.

"I know I told you that, Doom," replied Daze. "But I changed my mind and decided to make my inventions work in a different way than we agreed upon. Instead of draining her it is simply duplicating her power. You're becoming equal in strength now."

As she said this, Dame took advantage of how distracted Doom was, and punched him against the far wall. As he gathered himself, Kate ripped the bottom of her outfit off and removed her veil. She stood then, dressed in virginal white and in all her muscular might, poised and ready to duel him like so many times before.

"You traitorous little wench," said MegaDoom. "Why did you betray me like this?"

"Oh, I had my reasons," revealed Daze. "One, and as much as I hate her, Kate deserved a chance to defend herself after all of your deceptions, and two, I wanted a little bit of revenge of my own, on you."

"For what?!" he cried.

It wasn't easy for her to respond at first. It was an embarrassing secret she'd hid from him. It was that she fell for Ethan in the time they'd spent together scheming, and nothing had driven her more crazy than to watch him slowly obsess over Kate instead. To pretend to be in love with her. To simulate being a dutiful companion. All the things she wanted from him but things that he'd never offer to her. These two had rejected her advances, rejected offers of friendship and love, and it ate her up inside.

"Well, you're right about one thing," replied Doom, "I'd never consider someone like you as an equal or lover, you small, weak, miserable little creature."

"I know that," said Daze bitterly.

Before they could continue, SuperDame threw herself at her enemy and they both smashed through the church wall and out onto the street. Their spectacular entrance startled those walking and driving past at the time, but Dame and Doom were too focused on defeating each other to even noticed those now watching.

"Ah, it doesn't matter about her betrayal," he laughed. "With your power, I can still crush you in the end, and after that I'll do whatever I want with this city, and beyond."

"Don't be so sure," said Dame. "As you saw inside, I'm more than a match for you still, and I am the better fighter. So you're going to lose this battle like all the others we've had in the past, and I'm going to pay you back for everything you've just put me through."

"I'm afraid that neither of you are going to win this day," declared Daze as she walked through the hole they'd just made in the church before then standing over the rubble. "Remember, Doom, you asked me to make a ring that would absorb the other person's power. Well..."

With that, she reached into her pocket and produced a ring of her own.

"A third one?!" cried Doom.

"Yes. As I said, your ring merely duplicated her power, but mine will absorb both yours and hers until it all just becomes mine!"

Daze placed the jewelry onto her finger then without uttering another word. As she did so, a strange, sudden wind picked up around her and her short black hair started to be tossed around. Her arms became stiff and set to her side. She dropped her head back and her eyes rolled upwards. Both Dame and Doom tried to reach her in time but suddenly they both felt weak at the knees. Falling to the ground, they could only grab hold of Daze's feet. Desperate, they then tried to remove their own rings, yet neither were successful.

"No," said an excited Daze. "Only I can remove them. I planned it like that. You see, I've learned from you two that in my present form, I'm not guaranteed friendship, or love. I can only expect rejection. Disappointment. But the one thing that I can extract from you is power. Your power. My power. I can be the hero and villain that this city deserves. Instead of a MegaDame or MegaDoom, they'll be caught up perpetually in a MegaDaze. And with this power I will finally have some control over others. I will have or will force loyalty out of them. No more rejection."

When the absorption was complete, Dame and Doom found themselves slightly deflated and very much exhausted. They tried lifting themselves off the dirt but it was quite difficult. They weren't super anymore. In truth, they weren't even Dame and Doom anymore, just plain old old Kate and Ethan now, just as they were pretending to be at the altar not long before.

Their enemy on the other hand wasn't plain old Caroline anymore, but, indeed, had become MegaDaze. Her muscles had grow enough that they pressed against her dark, formerly loose clothing. She was even taller than before. Her eyes swelled up with tears as she held her arms aloft, and was left trembling as she tried to contain her newly acquired super strength.

"It worked!" she cried.

Looking at the others now, she reached out and grabbed their throats before easily lifting them off the earth.

"Consider all of this as a wedding gift," she said me with a cheeky smile on her face. "And, by the way, enjoy the honeymoon!"

As she finished she threw both of them aside together across the street. She turned to the rest of the citizenry then and laughed.

"Behold, people! Your new conquerer AND savior has arrived, and I want your fealty, you love, or else! We're in this together. A sort of marriage of convience. After all, what's yours is now mine."