MvDC MVFBB - Vengeance vs. Titania

Talented text and Marvelous music by the Avant-garde Aron Orson
Impressive inks and Captivating colors by the Magnificent MuscleGirlsArt

Backstage...  

M-MacP [walking up to Vengeance]: “Didn’t know they were doing a lucha libre thing for this whole shebang. Your mask is definitely scarier than that of the ‘El Muerto’ guy I heard about once.”

Vengeance [turning to face M-MacP]: “I am not a luchadora.”

M-MacP: “Huh. Go figure. So, what’s your handle? Mine’s Titania.”

Vengeance: “I was never given a formal name—only the codename Vengeance.”

M-MacP [one eyebrow raised]: “…Right. Word to the wise, if you’re ever in my ‘neighborhood’, might want to use a different name, considering it’s being used by some ex-cop-turned-knockoff of Ghost Rider.”

Vengeance: “I have no idea who that is.”

M-MacP: “Trust me, you don’t want to be mixed up with them—and I mean any of them. So, what’s your story?”

Vengeance: “…I was not born into this world under normal circumstances. I am what you might call a ‘test-tube baby’, grown and raised in a secret lab in Santa Prisca by a group of followers of the man I was partially cloned from: Bane.”

M-MacP [recognition in her eyes]: “Oh, yeah, the name rings a bell—” [Points with her thumb towards Giganta.] “Giganta and I were swapping stories of some of the heavies we’ve worked with over the years, and when she noticed your mask, she told me all about the guy it reminded her of. Said he got his rep from when he ‘broke the Bat’, whoever that is.”

Vengeance: “She refers to when Bane managed to successfully break the so-called Batman, both in terms of spirit, and when he literally broke the man’s spine over his knee.”

M-MacP [shocked]: “No kidding—I heard that guy’s one of the toughest in your world. And you said you’re cloned from Bane?”

Vengeance: “Yes. I was designed to be used against Santa Prisca’s enemies; the entire time, I was kept completely unaware of my origins, to ensure my continued cooperation. I was also born effectively addicted to the substance that gave my ‘father’ his great strength, a drug called Venom. I was meant to be ‘proof of concept’ for an artificially grown army of soldiers like me and Bane.”

M-MacP: “Huh—a clone used as a brainwashed living weapon. Somehow, I’m not surprised—then again, we’ve got a lot of those running around in my world. But you made it sound like all past tense—what got you out from under your boss’s thumb?”

Vengeance: “When my ‘father’ was presumed dead, they sent me after his supposed killer: the Joker.”

M-MacP [briefly shudders]: “Oof—Giganta and the lady in the purple cat mask told me all about that guy too. I hated clowns before, but the way they described that psycho makes me hate them even more.”

Vengeance [nodding]: “He has many ways to make you hate and fear him at the same time, as I learned during my pursuit. What I also learned—ironically, thanks to the Joker—was the truth of my origins. I decided I could no longer serve my creators and set out to forge my own path. Eventually, I found that Bane not only survived, but had been the one who organized the events that put all of this into motion, having faked his death and attempted to frame the Joker for it.” [Briefly scowls.] “I wanted to hate him for the circumstances leading to my creation, how my entire mission proved to be moot—even lashed out at him when he revealed he was alive.” [Her scowl vanishes.] “I lost to him, but he convinced me to abandon my creators, and the conditioning that made me obsessed with killing the Joker. Since then, we’ve been working to completely dismantle the organization, to ensure no other clones are created—my means of paying back my creators in kind.”

M-MacP [smirking]: “I like it—shows how much you’ve come a long way, from the sound of things.” [Her smirk vanishes.] “Something grabbing at me right now—I heard Bane was a heavy Venom-user, and you hinted it’s been literally in your blood since day one. I’d make a crack about possibly getting yourself disqualified from this ‘circus’ for using ‘performance-enhancers’, but something tells me our ‘hosts’ are willing to look the other way.”

Vengeance: “It would not matter—unlike Bane, who’s always veered between staying off or resuming use of Venom, I’ve been slowly weaning myself off of it for a while now.” [Flexes her right bicep.] “All of what you see of me is completely natural.”

M-MacP [whistles in awe]: “Now that’s dedication, sister.” [Flexes her own bicep.] “Believe it or not, I’m all natural, too, but I originally didn’t get these through steroids or a long, intense workout routine.”

Vengeance: “Yes, you appear to have gained your stature through a more distinct method. If you would indulge my curiosity…?”

M-MacP [shrugs]: “Eh, why not? That green-haired shrink once told me it was good getting things off my chest…Believe it or not, I was born prematurely. I got overlooked easily since I was the smallest of my siblings; used to lose myself in lots of fantasy stories because of this. I was still short and scrawny even in high school, where me and my best friend Marsha were always the targets of the popular kids—one of them, Vanessa, even gave me the nickname ‘Skeeter’. (The bitch.) Marsha aside, my life made me bitter, to say the least—used to fantasize about somehow making it big, like winning the lottery or getting powers, all so I could get back at our tormentors. Then a funny thing happened… When Spider-Woman—the redheaded one, not the lady with the red mask over there—started making the rounds in our town, Marsha mentioned how her hair and mine looked very similar. I wanted to feel so big that I lied to Marsha about secretly being Spider-Woman, but she wound up spreading the lie to the point where I somehow got popular enough to get an invite to one of Vanessa’s parties. By the time we were really reveling in the attention, our whole town got ripped out of the Earth and stuck in some place called ‘Battleworld’. Spider-Woman ended up rescuing a bunch of us from falling debris…which ended up exposing my lie to Vanessa and the others, causing them to chase me and Marsha out. While hiding from the mob, we were found by a major bad guy on our world named Doctor Doom—he was looking to expand the army of baddies he was building and offered us spots by giving us superpowers. Given what we’d been running from, how could either of us say no? He took us to his base, and then used a bunch of alien machines to give me and Marsha powers. She got fire and magma powers, so she took the name “Volcana”. Me, on the other hand?” [Gestures to her own body.] “I got turned into the towering amazon I am today. After getting my new duds from Doom, I took the Titania name—no one was using it at the time, and it definitely fit me more than the previous user. I felt so on top of the world I wound up challenging another guy in the villain group to a fight: Carl ‘Crusher’ Creel, the Absorbing Man.”

Vengeance: “Did he accept?”

M-MacP: “HA! He actually turned me down—said he didn’t have anything to prove “to a dame”. I did get to finally put my new strength to the test when I first fought She-Hulk.” [Points to a certain green-skinned amazon among the contestants.] “We’ve been rivals ever since.” [Scowls for a moment.] “I had my first big loss when I went up against Spider-Man—he beat me without even landing a single punch. I actually got some kind of arachnophobia because of him! It was Carl who helped me get over it—we got close after that, and after he talked me out of going further when I finally gave Vanessa the payback she deserved. Carl and I have been practically inseparable since then—even fell in love and eventually got married once we all returned to Earth. In all the villain team-ups, all the jobs, all the fights with supers, even when I had a bout with cancer, we’ve had each other’s back through thick and thin.”

Vengeance: “He sounds like a good man.” [Looks over at She-Hulk briefly.] “Have you ever won against She-Hulk, in all of your fights with her?”

M-MacP: “Unfortunately, I’ve got more losses when it comes to her. Only got one over on her one time when I briefly held a little bauble called the Power Gem, given to me by this guy called the Champion of the Universe.” [Looks up for a moment.] (Come to think of it, I think the Promoter said she was an Elder of the Universe like him…) Anyway, I managed to beat Miz Green Jeans thanks to the gem, but it made me think—I finally beat her, so what now? Unfortunately, that moment of self-doubt led to my ass getting handed to me by She-Hulk. It took me being possessed by the hammer of some being named Skirn for me to finally decide I wanted to go legit, even convinced Carl to do the same. But like they say in the movies, just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in…I wound up ‘recruited’ by some magic mook called the Hood into his ‘Illuminati’, but broke away when he started going off on targeting our enemies’ families; tore the bastard’s magic cloak up to further spite him. Carl and I have drifted in and out of ‘the life’ for a while now, but it hasn’t been all bad—She-Hulk and I recently came to an understanding.”

Vengeance: “Understanding?”

M-MacP: “Yeah—we formed a little ‘fight club’, just to help each other blow off steam. Carl, Marsha, and even Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four are in it. Greenie just invited her current boyfriend to join up. I’ll admit, this changed a lot of my opinion about the green legal eagle.” [Looks Vengeance over briefly.] “You seem like a good gal—tell you what, you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, there’s a spot in the ‘club’ if you want it.”

Vengeance [slightly smirking]: “I will take you up on that.” [Looks briefly out onto the stage.] “Do you trust what Power Girl and the one called Rogue warned all of us about?”

M-MacP [nodding]: “Yeah, normally I don’t agree with folks on that side of the fence, but I don’t like the thought of being forced into some beauty contest any more than they do. Carl’s probably worried sick, wondering where I am. I’ll go with whatever plan they come up with to bust loose.”

Vengeance: “Agreed. I will gladly lend my strength and my tactical ability, if it means we can break our mutual enemies.” [The sound of the crowd gets her attention briefly.] “We appear to be next. For now, let them think they have us cowed—we’ll savor the looks on their faces all the more, once we prove otherwise.”

M-MacP [smirking]: “Just what I’m thinking. Doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you—I want to see if I end up facing off with She-Hulk in another bracket; if I can’t beat her in a straight-up fight, I want to try my chances in something a little different.”

Vengeance [nodding]: “Understood. Good luck, Titania.”

M-MacP: “Mary, when we’re ‘off the clock’. Maybe when all’s said and done, we can figure out a regular name for you when you don’t have the mask on.”

Vengeance: “I will give it some thought.”

Main stage…  

Promoter: "You’re in for a real treat, ladies and gentlemen, because now we come to our first villain-versus-villain matchup! Kicking things off from Multiverse-A, here’s a woman with nothing but venom directed towards her enemies. She’s the cloned daughter of the biggest, baddest bruiser to come straight out of Santa Prisca, and definitely is her father’s daughter when it comes to brains, brawn, and sheer ruthlessness. She also has the distinction of being one of the very few to ever successfully capture and torture the notorious Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker, as well as go toe-to-toe with the vicious one-time Batman replacement Azrael and survive unscathed. Make no mistake, if you cross her, she will break you. So brace yourselves, people, for the new girl on the block well on her way to her own level of notoriety. Give it up for…VENGEANCE!"

[Needle-drop: “Bar Fight” by Los Lobos.]   

Promoter: "Let’s hear it again for Vengeance! And now, her opponent from Multiverse-B…You could call her the small-town girl who went big—both in body, and in attitude, thanks to the menacing metal-faced monarch himself, Doctor Doom. She’s been a Master of Evil, a Breaker of Men, and some would even say the first lady of blue-collar super-criminals everywhere, since she’s also the wife of the infamous Absorbing Man—that’s right, folks, the woman who brought Carl ‘Crusher’ Creel to heel is in our competition, as is her longtime famously green-hued archrival! So make some noise for the towering, tenacious TITANIA!"

[Needle-drop: “Cherry Pie” by Warrant.]