Cover shows Lady Lawful 1 and Lady Lawful 2 standing back to back. LL1 has an innocent expression, but whatever she's saying is mortifying LL2 in the sort of way only a mother can embarrass her child. The background is split, a 1940s cityscape in sepiatones behind LL1, and a 1990s gleaming glass and steel city behind LL2. ____________________________________________________________________________ .|, COHERENT An ASHistory Series --+------------------------------------------------------------------------- '|` SUPER STORIES #9 - The Secret Origins of Lady Lawful Featuring Lady Lawful 1 and 2 copyright 2007 by Andy Burton ____________________________________________________________________________ [April 13, 1991 - Chicago IL] There was a knock at her door and someone was calling her name. "Jenny? Hey, Jenny?" After a moment, she realized it was Doug, one of the students on her floor. One of the more eccentric students she knew. Jennifer took a deep breath and wiped her nose, using the extra moment to compose herself. "Go away, Doug." She inhaled sharply. "I'm not in the mood for...whatever!" Jennifer could hear mumbling outside of her door, which was not what she wanted to hear. What she wanted to hear was him going away. Without hesitating, Jennifer sat up in her bed and stormed over to her dorm room door. Once her hand was on the knob, she wrenched the door open and opened her mouth. "Just go away!" It took her a full second to recognize the older woman who was standing next to Doug's scrawny, unshaven form. "Mom?" June Hartworth-Blair, unfazed by her daughter's outburst, replied immediately, "But, honey, I came all this way." Jennifer knew "all this way" meant, at worst, an hour. "Have you been crying, Jenny?" For a moment, Jennifer felt very small. She almost gave in and started crying again, but caught Doug staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she would have to apologize later on, but at that moment she didn't care. "Douglas Greene," she growled, "my mom may not have to go, but you sure as hell do. Go!" Her arm snapped out, pointing. "S...sorry," he stammered, backing away. Both blondes watched as he sprinted away down the hall. When Doug disappeared around the corner of the hallway, June turned to glare at Jennifer with a half-exasperated look on her face. "Jenny, if you're going to maintain a secret identity, you have to make sure when Lady Lawful's upset, Jennifer isn't as well." Jennifer gave her mother a nonplussed look, which lasted until her mother broke the silence. "So, may I come in?" After another moment of stony silence, Jennifer stepped back and cleared the way for her mother. Once Jennifer pushed the door closed, she turned to her mother and crosser her arms. "What do you want, mom?" June didn't answer right away. She took a lazy stroll around the dorm room, setting her handbag down as she did. There was a definite difference between Jennifer's side of the room and her roommate's. Jennifer's side was marked by clothes and papers sticking out of dresser drawers, which presented an opportunity for her mother to ignore the question while she tucked the bits of shirts and pants back into place. After a minute of straightening up Jennifer's desk, June turned her attention to the rumpled sheets of her daughter's bed. She didn't get too far into her impromptu bed-making before her hand bumped against something hard beneath the sheets. June reached beneath and wrapped her hands around the object. She knew by touch what Jennifer had hidden, and was not surprised in the least when she pulled a familiar golden belt out. "Another thing," June added, "if your mother can casually find where you stash your equipment, so can a determined villain." June took a moment to put the belt around her waist. She let out a dejected sigh when the clasp fell a couple of inches short from closing the loop. "It's hard to believe I was ever this thin." "Did you just come here to criticize me for taking your belt?" Jennifer asked. Without waiting for an answer she stomped over to her chest and yanked out a drawer. After a bit of digging, she pulled out a red, leather vest and a pair of old welding goggles, both of which she promptly shoved into her mother's arms. "You can have it back! You were right. I'm not cut out for this." June carefully juggled the items in her hands until she had a firm hold on them. "I did not come here to criticize you, Jenny," June said in a tone nearing the boiling point. She caught herself and took a breath to give time for her tone to shift. "I saw you on the news last night. I mean, I saw Lady Lawful, but I knew it could only be you." June carefully set the belt, vest, and goggles onto Jennifer's chest of drawers, making sure most of the belt was covered by the vest. "I came here today, because I remember my first time out as Lady Lawful," June explained. She stepped closer to Jennifer and wrapped her arms around her daughter, embracing her in a bear hug. "And I remember how much I needed someone to talk to afterwards." At first, Jennifer didn't fully grasp what her mother was saying. They'd argued a time or two about her using the Enhancement Belt to carry on the legacy of Lady Lawful, and every time it ended with her mother vowing she'd never let Jennifer risk her life in such a way. Now, though, as the I Told You So's she'd expected were mysteriously absent, Jennifer found herself welcoming her mother's hug. She reached her arms around June's waist and let out a sob as she reciprocated the hug. * * * * [May 2, 1941 - Chicago IL] June Hartworth rapped her knuckles against the smoky glass pane. She could see a light on in the office, but was afraid she might be too late. Tense moments ticked by, and just as she was about to knock again, the door swung open. The man behind the door looked exactly as June imaged someone who's office door read "Calvin Kirby, Professional Scientist" would: he was no taller than she was, balding slightly, but made up for the missing hair on his head with a thick, walrus mustache. He stepped aside as June barged into his office. "Excuse me, miss, but...." He stopped and made a grumpy coughing noise as June grabbed his coat and hat off of a rack. "Now see here...!" She thrust the coat and hat into his arms. "Madam, please." "Mister Kirby, I know you don't know me, but you have to trust me," she pleaded. "There are two very bad men on their way over to abduct you. I tried to call the police, but no one would listen to me. I tried to call you, but your building's operator wouldn't put me through." "Yes," Kirby nodded, "I told her to hold all my calls." June took a breath. "I promise, sir, I overhead a phone conversation, you're in danger. They'll be here any minute." "We're here now," a voice said from one back rooms of the office suite. The man was about as nondescript as June could imagine a person might be. His partner, who was half a head taller, was equally as bland, save for a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. Both men were wielding pistols, aimed at Doctor Kirby and herself. June knew this routine from enough movies. She slowly raised her hands into a surrendering position. Doctor Kirby, who obviously didn't get to the cinema as often, put his fists against his hips. "Now see here, I demand an explanation." The shorter of the two men, Boss, smirked at his partner, Scar. "The little lady is right, Doctor. We're here to...appropriate you for the benefit of an interested third party." Boss motioned at Scar, and the taller man moved toward Doctor Kirby. "It would be in both your best interests not to try any funny business." June wasn't sure any sort of "funny business" would do much good. She wasn't bullet-proof, and doubted she could run faster than Boss could pull the trigger. Even if both men weren't armed, she doubted a teenage girl and an elderly scientist would stand much of a chance in a fight. She truly doubted it was in her best long-term interests to cooperate, but for the short-term she didn't see any alternative. When Scar reached Doctor Kirby, he didn't waste any time before spinning the man around and grabbing both of his arms. With both of Doctor Kirby's arms gripped in one of his vice-like hands, Scar used his other to pull a short length of rope from his jacket. June looked away, feeling even more helpless at the prospect of being even further trapped. "Now her," Boss told scar. "I only brought enough for the Doc," Scar answered back. "Just go on and shoot her, boss." June squeezed her eyes closed. She fully intended to scream for help, but instead she heard herself talking in a rushed, matter-of-fact tone, "If you shoot me, someone will hear. Do you think you'll be able to get out of the building with a bound man if you have to go past everyone who heard a gun shot?" June didn't expect the argument to work. It was after five in the evening. The building was probably mostly empty. Her body wouldn't be found until the captors and captive were long gone. She held her breath, waiting to hear Boss's gun go off. "Okay, grab her;" Boss told Scar, "I got an idea." June realized she wasn't going to be shot when she felt Scar's hands on her shoulders, guiding her along with Boss toward the back room where she first two the two exit only a few minutes before. Upon entering the room, June realized that it was probably Doctor Kirby's main laboratory, which was the impression she got from the work benches with beakers and various machines set out on them. "Here we go," Boss said. He stopped in front of a large, metal safe, big enough for a person to walk inside. The safe could have been mistaken for a closet if he had been built into the wall, instead of freestanding as it was against the wall. "In you go," Boss told June. Before she could protest, Scar answered for her with a shove that sent her stumbling forward. June caught herself against the back wall of the safe, managing to avoid disrupting the contents of the small built-in shelves too badly. Once steady, June turned around. "Not as loud as a gun, but I think you'll agree it's *safe* to say you won't be going anywhere," Boss explained. He and Scar chuckled at his pun as they pushed the door shut, locking June in a manmade cave of complete darkness. One of the two tapped something hard against the safe before they left. After that, she was blind and deaf to everything, save the sound of her own pounding heart. * * * * [April 13, 1991 - Chicago IL] After Jennifer had gotten the tears out of her system, June had insisted she go find and apologize for yelling at the young man who'd been kind enough to show her to Jennifer's room. A stern look from June had cut short any thoughts of protest or procrastination. She slouched out of the room in search of Doug to apologize. While she was alone, June made herself as comfortable as she could on Jennifer's bed, leaning back against the wall and a small cushion of pillows she'd arranged. With the bed pushed lengthwise against the wall, she didn't have to worry about falling off, which meant she could slide over a bit to leave Jennifer room when she returned. "I apologized," Jennifer huffed as she reentered the room, closing the door behind her. "He said it was fine." She paused for a minute before adding, "He asked if you were married." To that, Jennifer made a face. "That's awfully flattering," June replied. "Says you," Jennifer said. She shuffled over to her bed, and took a seat next to June. "I happen to find it very creepy, but then..." she paused, "never mind." June wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm sure if he knew I was pushing seventy he wouldn't have asked." "I'm sorry, mom," Jennifer sighed, "I'm being weird today." She looked June in the eye, trying to figure out how to ask. "How did you get used to everything being so...freaky? I thought it would be fun to put on the belt and the suit. It looks so exciting when the others do it. Even if they do tend to get kicked out of cities every so often for all the property damage," she amended, recalling ASH's recent exile to Milwaukee. "Oh, Jenny," June answered, sounding as if she wasn't even sure how she felt on the subject. "I won't lie to you; it can be fun and adventurous at times. It can also be terrifying. The last time I ever went out, I couldn't stop worrying about what if I never got to see you or your father again. The year after I stopped being Lady Lawful, every time I heard about some emergency, I felt my adrenaline rush, getting excited about going out. "And don't you dare say anything silly about being sorry, I dealt with your father putting up with me that year. Retiring and getting to watch you grow up is the best thing I ever did," June continued. "But if it hadn't been for Lady Lawful, I would never have met your father, never had you." Jennifer raised a curious eyebrow, "So...what are you saying." June let out a small sigh, "I'm saying...you learn to deal with the freakiness of it all, because while there is bad to this business, there's a lot of good to it as well." June let her answer hang for a minute, taking time to digest what she's said. After a moment, she continued, "Tell me about that thug you took out last night? The news didn't have many details." Jennifer shook her head. "There weren't many details," she admitted in a flat tone. "I was doing patrols...I guess that's what you call them," she continued, "and I saw a couple of police cars surrounding a building. Then I heard gun shots. It's all kind of a blur after that. I saw him shooting at the police, so I decided to surprise him from above." Jennifer went on to describe how she rappelled from the top of the building and crashed through the window. She talked about fighting and disarming the gunman, whose name she never discovered, and how the police used the distraction to raid the building. Then her voice cracked. "He was holding these kids hostage," she explained, "He'd been kidnapping them, and kept them locked in this big room. He was going to sac...sacrifice them or something. I didn't notice it when I broke in, but the place smelled like gasoline. He was going to burn them, mom." Jennifer buried her head in her mother's shoulder. "He was going to kill those kids." June hugged Jennifer tighter. "You stopped him, though, Jenny. Those kids wouldn't be alive now if it weren't for Lady Lawful...for you." Jennifer shook her head again. "I can't do it again." * * * * [May 2, 1941 - Chicago, IL] Time lost all meaning after a while. There was no light, so June couldn't check her watch. At first, after being locked in, she tried counting the seconds, but that only lasted until the first time she thought she heard a noise and called for help. After that count was lost, she didn't much see the point of trying to keep up. She did know she had been locked in the safe for a while. A long enough time had passed that she could feel the air in the safe growing stale, which might not have been that long. It was impossible to tell, something that made the situation even more unnerving. "Just stay calm," June told herself, not speaking aloud for fear of wasting what little air was left. "There must be an emergency lever or something, in cases where people get them selves locked in. Slowly and methodically, June began to feel her way around the safe. There was nothing lever- or knob-like on the front door. "But that doesn't mean anything," she told herself, "I've got three more walls to check." It was as she began to examine the second wall that her hand brushed against something laying on the shelf. It wouldn't have been very noticeable in the light of day, but as her hand touched the solid object, it began to glow faintly, giving off a slight pulsating aura. It was just enough light so June could make out the shape of the object; it was some kind of belt. The belt, golden in color, seemed to...like...June touching it. It glowed brighter as she ran her hands along its length, giving her enough light better examine the wall. Unfortunately, it seemed to dim whenever she let go of it to feel around. Picking up the belt wasn't a difficult choice to make. She needed the light if she was going to escape. However, trying to maximize contact with the belt and feel for a release switch became awkward. The belt both was too thick to completely wrap around her arm and too stiff to wad up in her palm. The next best thing she knew to try was putting the belt around her waist, and hoping that would maximize its glow. As June snapped the clasp on the belt, she nodded her approval as it kept glowing. It seemed to like being around her waist, at least as much as it liked her holding it. After that, it didn't take much longer for June to finish her search of the innards of the safe. There was no emergency lever. No escape switches to release her. Fear and panic set in as June realized she was utterly trapped in the safe. "I don't want to die!" she sobbed. In desperation, June beat her fist against the safe door, hoping someone would hear her. She pounded on the metal as hard as she could, which to her surprise, seemed to be enough to bend the door a bit. June gaped at the indentation for a long second. She knew the air was thinning, but it wasn't to the point of hallucinations...was it? June shook her head, and touched the warped door. No, it was real. Maybe her situation wasn't as hopeless as she feared. No one heard the sound of warping metal as the door to Doctor Kirby's safe groaned. Likewise, no one heard the resounding "sprang" as the hinges and locking mechanism gave way. Even the crashing thud, as the door fell forward onto the floor went unnoticed by anyone, save for the person who caused it. June was still a bit flabbergasted as she stood up from the floor of the safe. It had taken every ounce of her mysterious, new super-strength, not to mention positioning herself in a rather unladylike manner, to open the safe door. In the end, it had opened for her. With enough pushing and kicking, she'd escaped from her steel prison. "It's the belt," a voice inside June's mind whispered. She couldn't disagree either. Up until being trapped, she never knew herself to be even remotely strong enough to bend metal. She heard stories of people in life- threatening situations gaining extra strength, but even that seemed unlikely given the durability of the safe. Even Minuteman, the perfected human, didn't have that kind of strength. June told herself to ask Doctor Kirby when she... "Doctor Kirby!" she cried. In her panic and later escape, the poor doctor'd slipped her mind. As she began to pace around his lab, it all started coming back. The phone call she'd overheard down at her station on the switchboard. Someone in the penthouse wanted a private audience with Doctor Kirby, the same someone whose thugs had kidnapped him and tried to kill her. June snuck a peek at her watch, and was surprised to find less than half an hour had passed between her being captured and her astonishing escape. Doctor Kirby might still be in the building, and if he wasn't she still knew where he was being taken. She fretted for a moment, trying to think who else to try alerting. The police had already turned her away once, and by the time she could summon them to the lab and explain everything, Doctor Kirby might be lost forever. Incredibly, June found herself thinking about saving Doctor Kirby by herself. Maybe...if she could pry open a safe, she might stand a chance in a fight against Boss and Scar. It was a crazy idea, one that seemed to go beyond the bounds of foolhardiness. However, the notion that June Hartworth could extricate herself from a safe had seemed just as impossible a few minutes before. June's pacing slowed as the idea sunk in. Maybe it wasn't so crazy. If she called the police and let them know there was a fight going on, then all she would need to do is hold the criminals in the penthouse long enough for the police to arrive, and maybe cause enough of a stir to have someone corroborate her story. Even if they were gone, she could still show the police Doctor Kirby's lab. It wasn't a good plan, it might not have even been a sane plan, but it was the only thing she could think of that might save Doctor Kirby. June resigned herself to the plan and briskly headed to find Doctor Kirby's telephone. As she was stepping though the laboratory, her eyes fell on a pair of welding goggles. They were the kind that looked like a pair of diving goggles with a dark, hinged cover on the front. Instinctively, she picked them up as she went, looking them over she continued for the phone. "Well," she decided, "it couldn't hurt to wear a mask. Maybe no one will recognize me." * * * * [May 2, 1991 - Chicago IL] "You shouldn't give up so easily, Jenny," June said after Jennifer calmed a bit. She felt Jennifer's head rising up off her shoulder. "Hear me out, okay. It's your decision, but just let me say this." Jennifer nodded slowly, and June slowly maneuvered until she was on the edge of the bed, within arm lengths of her purse. "Ever since you were a little girl, and we learned just how special you were, I was always afraid you'd try to be a super-hero." June paused, thinking back to the first time Jennifer fell out of a tree without injuring herself. It had been a miracle, but even then she suspected Jenny was blessed, or cursed, with some form of powers. "So it's not easy, and I imagine a bit confusing...I'm confused, and I'm saying it...for me to say that I think you should be Lady Lawful." "You certainly have the natural gifts for it. According to your father, as a baseline you're as strong and invulnerable as I ever was wearing the belt...and with it, even stronger. You're smart too, Jenny, which is something that's in short supply with some of these modern heroes. You're a natural at it, honey." Jennifer shook her head. "I can't, mom. It's too much." June paused from searching through her bag. "It is now, but this was your first time. I was a mess my first time, and believe me the men I faced weren't trying to sacrifice children." June paused, and looked in Jennifer's eyes. "Don't go back out tomorrow, and if you decide not to do it again, you won't have anything to be ashamed about. You've already done more good than most people do in their entire lives. "In a couple of days, though, if you change your mind, then give it another try. The next time won't be as bad. The time after that won't be either. In time, Jenny, I think you're going to remember why you stole my belt in the first place." June smiled and reached into her purse. Jennifer mumbled a half-hearted, "Maybe." "And, if you go out again, I want you to have this." June pulled a small bundle from her purse. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with string; it looked big enough to hold a thick book, maybe. Jennifer took the package from her mother, and slowly began to unwrap it. At the first sign of red fabric, Jennifer abandoned all patience, and tore into the bag. It was a costume. There was a blue mask stuck down with a rolled up piece of tape, but aside from that, the costume was one piece. Most of the costume was red, from the stirrups on the leggings to the peak of the triangle that ended where her chest would fit. From there up, and out to the finger tips, it was a light, navy blue. The only other color was the white logo in the middle of chest, a pair of scales, which Jennifer recognized as the unofficial logo for Lady Lawful. "Mom?" Jennifer asked slowly, "when did you..." June smiled, feeling her face turn a bit red. "When I realized you took the belt a couple of weeks ago, I remembered an old design I'd drawn up for myself, right before I retired. I'm not sure if it looks modern or not, and you'll want to get some boots you're comfortable in," June was almost babbling, "but...I knew how stubborn you could be, and didn't want you being the new Lady Lawful just wearing my old things." June sniffed, wiping away a little moisture from her eye. "If my little girl is going to be a hero, she's going to do it in style." * * * * [May 3, 1941 - Chicago IL] The headline read: LADY LAWFUL SAVES SCIENTIST! The picture below the large, bold font showed June standing with Doctor Kirby. "Cosmo" Kirby, as the caption called him...clearly a tale hung upon that nickname. She was wearing the embarrassingly rural blue jeans she'd brought to change into after work that day, the golden belt, a leather vest she borrowed from Doctor Kirby's lab, as well as a pair of his gloves, and the welding goggles, minus their darkened lenses. Doctor Kirby looked a bit ruffled, but the photographer had caught June when she was smiling and patting him on the back. In a strange way, it made her look almost heroic...or at least not as frightened as she felt after surviving the gunmen holding Doctor Kirby hostage. "I must ask," Doctor Kirby said, setting down the newspaper he was holding up for June's benefit, "When did you name yourself Lady Lawful, Miss Hartworth?" June half smiled. "I didn't. That was what the papers came up with...a mysteryman, or woman, needs a colorful moniker, I suppose. But as far as I'm concerned, there is no more 'Lady Lawful.' Now that you're safe, I can give you your belt back and..." she offered the golden belt back to Doctor Kirby, but he refused to accept it. "Miss Hartworth, I would like to talk to you about your borrowing my experimental Enhancement Belt." "I'm sorry about taking it without asking, Doctor Kirby," June apologized. "Nonsense," he interrupted. "There is nothing for which you need apologize. I am in your debt, which makes it all the more awkward for me to ask...Miss Hartworth." "June, please." Doctor Kirby nodded, "Very well, but in turn you must call me Calvin." June nodded. "June, I have a favor to ask of you. Would you continue wearing the Enhancement Belt, at least long enough for me to conduct a few tests? You are the first person who the belt has given strength or any other ability, despite my research saying it should be capable of so much. I would like to study it...and you...to find out why. I'm afraid I cannot offer you much in the way of compensation, but..." "I'll do it," June blurted out. "I mean...I'll help you with the experiments, that is." She blushed slightly. "I don't think I'll be dressing up like that 'Lady Lawful' again, but I got a real kick out of being a strong-woman." Doctor Kirby chuckled. "I can only imagine." June smiled, her thoughts drifting off, thinking about "Lady Lawful," which she kind of thought was a silly name. It had a nice ring to it. "Not that I ever plan on becoming a hero again," she told herself, "Imagine, me, as Lady Lawful. What a notion." ============================================================================ Next Issue: Back to Dave! He's got a few ideas for #10, but hasn't settled on one quite yet, but it'll involve the First Age...in one way or another. ============================================================================ Author's Note: The Secret Origins of both Lady Lawfuls have now been told. We return you to the domestic bliss four years hence [over in LL&DD - Ed.]. Douglas Greene is Utilitarian making a secret cameo appearance. You'll never see him again. [Is it really that secret if you admit to it? - Ed.] Editor's Note: The cover is based on a piece of art Andy commissioned recently: http://profnano.org/andy/misc/img/LadyLawfuls.jpg (albeit with a different background and no speech bubble). ============================================================================ For all the back issues, plus additional background information, art, and more, go to http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH ! To discuss this issue or any others, either just hit "followup" to this post, or check out our Yahoo discussion group, which can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ash_stories/ ! There's also a LiveJournal interest group for ASH, check it out at http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=academy+of+super-heroes ============================================================================