Mindgames, chapter 4

Continued from:


Olga's heart beat loudly in her chest as she raced through the night sky, so much so that there was a throbbing in her ears. She felt exhilarated and happy, her billowing red cape fluttering behind her in an almost straight line from her broad shoulders. Claire had contacted her, after all this time! Olga couldn't help but smile even though she knew it was probably something related to the Reich's activities that the former French Resistance officer was hampering. Through her friends at Stranger Industries she knew that Claire had been actively seeking membership in the Guardians of late, with her new-found lover Clemence actually managing to gain entrance. Clemence was a librarian with the ability to see glimpses of the future and had endured a terrible ordeal personally at the hands of Ilsa Hauppman, not unlike the one Claire herself had suffered. Claire's entry in the prestigious organization was a bit more tricky. She had been re-constructed after her death as a cybernetic assassin by Genocide, one that had almost managed to kill Olga had she not managed to reach the good woman that resided inside the bio-mechanical killer. Despite her best effort Ilsa Hauppman had failed and Claire, Grendel as she had been re-Christened, was now a bitter enemy of the Nazi terrorist group. Polygirl and Jessica had taken the initiative of removing a great deal of the Reich-tech from her and re-fitting her with new upgrades, as well as solving the problem of her chemical breakdown. Ilsa's formula's had brought her back from the dead, but they were imperfect, flooding her system with toxins. Still, the Guardians voted to take a 'wait and see' approach with Grendel. Olga couldn't fault them, but she still wanted for her old friend and lover to be part of a team again, accepted and helped by the same heroes and friends that had accepted her when she first arrived in this dimension.


The place Claire wanted to meet was a warehouse Olga was familiar with, it having been formerly used by the Reich and one of Ilsa's top operative Zuzana Licht. The Soviet Superwoman frowned at that, remembering the horrible activities of that despicable woman and what was perpetrated here. Her hard, black boots touched the ground softly as her cape dropped down behind her heavily. Olga ran a gloved hand through her short, raven-black hair and walked to the door. It wasn't locked and opened easily in her grip granting her entrance. Closing the door behind her, Olga looked around the abandoned loading bay and immediately spied her smiling former flame walking out from a patch of shadows. Claire looked so much more radiant...so much more healthy and alive than Olga had seen her since she had been shot down in the blood-soaked streets of Paris. Poly had done a fantastic job! Olga made a mental note to drop by the Hall of just Toys for her tomorrow as a thank you. For a moment, Olga's words caught in her throat.


"Claire! You look magnificent!" she finally sputtered out.


Claire returned her wide smile with one of her own. "Poly does good work under the hood. Regular maintenance is important."


Grendel took several quick steps towards her and locked the bigger Russian woman in a tight hug. Olga hugged her back just as tightly.


"It has been too long Claire, I was beginning to..."


Claire reached out with both her cold, metallic hands and gripped the sides of her head, pulling her downwards into a passionate kiss. Olga's eyes opened in surprise as the cyborg slid her teeth apart forcefully and slipped her warm tongue inside her mouth. The Soviet Superwoman took a few awkward steps backwards, breaking the kiss and chuckled.


"Easy my old friend! What would Maia think to see that!" Olga said in her best playful voice. The kiss had taken her completely off guard.


"She isn't here." Claire responded matter of factly. "Only you and I. My passion for you has not diminished Olga. I love you now just as much as the first day I saw you, rescuing you from a Nazi castle of all places."


"And I love you my dear Claire. It is good to see you again." Olga replied, "So what did you call me here for, speaking of odd places?"


Claire smiled wickedly. "It was quiet, dark and abandoned...it gives us plenty of 'us' time."


Olga cocked her head back slightly. "So there is no Reich activity?"


Claire laughed out loud, letting it echo of the walls. "No...does there always have to be a Nazi plot for world domination for us to be together?"


"I assumed by the choice of location."


Claire shrugged and winked at her, wagging a finger. "Nobody down here to disturb us my love. We can make all the noise we want."


The cybernetic woman moved towards her again, her lips out in front. This time Olga stepped out of her path entirely. Claire stopped and looked at her with a hollow look, like she had just had the wind taken out of her.


"Why are you trying to avoid me Olga? What have I done to you?"


The Soviet woman became a bit red in the cheeks and more than a bit uncomfortable. "Claire, I love you and care for you as my best friend in the world, but I am married to Walkiria now. She is my Beloved and I will not betray her."


"The way you betrayed me?" Claire spat out, her tone suddenly ice-cold.


"That is not fair! I thought that you were dead all those years! I grieved for you and then I moved on with my life. Why would you think such terrible thing?"


Claire took a step towards her now. "Why? Because you weren't married after I came back were you? You got good and hitched to that ginger steroid-junkie after you knew I had returned, when I needed your help more than ever. You abandoned me to lick the cunt of that energy-blasting cow, flew off to Venice before Ilsa even went to trial if I remember and see how well that worked out for everyone. You dropped me like yesterday's laundry and now you tell me that you still love me and have feelings for me? Pathetic."


Olga stood dumbfounded for a moment before responding to her verbal assault. "What about Clemence then? I thought you and she..."


"Clemence is a whining, fortune-telling bitch...her very presence fills me with disgust, and do you know why? Because despite her lack of any real powers and the fact she is just as scar-covered and damaged as I am, those arrogant, elitist fuckers in the Guardians still let her join their little club before me. What has she actually done, other than let Ilsa Hauppman beat her and cut her? If that was criteria for joining they would have let your tight ass in a long time ago wouldn't they."


"I chose not to join the Guardians..."


Claire threw her hands up into the air and clapped as she brought them down, cutting the super-soldier off. "How high and fucking mighty of you Olga. Watch us from your vaunted ivory tower with your whore, keep us safe and snug in our beds, but don't actually mingle with us 'common peoples'. You 'Alpha's' are all the fucking same. Ultrawoman is absolutely right about all of you."


Olga turned around, her body literally shaking. Claire's words cut her more than any weapon wielded by the Reich. She was confused and completely at a loss for words.


"Claire," she finally managed to say, "why are you saying these things? You know that I still have deep feelings for you and I always will have them."


"Olga?" came Claire's voice from behind her, her tone much more controlled. "You asked me if I knew anything about the Reich. I wasn't completely honest when I said no. Ilsa did tell me something about you, when I was her favorite 'child' and she my dark 'mother'. She told me that the serum that the Soviet's gave you was only a catalyst, that you always had the greatness within you, waiting to be unlocked. The serum was just the key that unlocked it. It would have killed you, like it killed everyone else in your village, but instead in awakened something in your genetic structure that had laid dormant since your birth. Do you want to know what it was?"


Olga turned around now, her sapphire-blue eyes the size of dinner plates.


"It was radiation." Claire continued, "radiation that the Iron Chancellor first detected and later used against your own genetic make-up in the form of a weapon that he presented Ilsa with."


"The energy-draining technology..." Olga said with growing realization, staring at her old friend seconds before the burst of familiar white-light bathed over her. Almost instantly she began to feel disoriented and nauseous. Shaking her head, the Soviet-born woman could feel herself becoming tired and quickly drained of strength.


From the darkness of the far corner, the Warlord couldn't help but laugh.


To be continued...

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Once again a tremendous thank you to my good friend Nathan not just for creating this image, but also for his time and all the great ideas he had to make this a reality.

Soviet Superwoman, Warlord & the much mentioned Genocide, as well as the writing, all belong to me.

Grendel and Clemence are both creations between myself and Nathan.

Walkiria is mentioned and belongs to the wonderful

Polygirl is the property of

All of this took place in