The Brave and the Bold: Lois Lane, Libby Lawrence, and Lily DeLuna

Times Past, 1947

Women of Journalism

by Dan Swanson, with Immortalwildcat

Part 1: Deadly Seminar

“One lesson that young reporters often don’t learn right away – one very important lesson that some never learn at all, is how much power a reporter really has. Power for good, certainly, which is probably why most of you are here – you want to make a positive difference in the world. Still, the reporter’s power, like any other kind of power, can be misused. You have the ability to help innumerable people by good and accurate reporting. But it is even easier to cause damage and hurt people if you are careless and sloppy.”

Lois Lane was on a roll. “Next slide, please!” The next slide showed a familiar headline. “Dewey Beats Truman!” in the November 3rd, 1948 morning edition of the Chicago Daily Tribunal. “This only happened a few months ago, but it is probably the single most famous reporting error in history! You have probably never thought of the damage this headline caused, but at the minimum there were people who lost their jobs, And just think how Dewey and his supporters must have felt.”

She sounded sad – she told me later that day that one of her J-school classmates had been a copyeditor at the Tribunal. He was a good man who had been fired over this story, a scapegoat for the editors and publisher who _should_ have taken responsibility for the error. She hoped that Clark Kent’s recommendation, along with her own, might convince George Taylor to give the man a job at the Daily Star. She continued…

“But I’m talking more about the smaller, more personal injuries poor reporting can cause. A story naming the wrong person as a suspect in a crime, an article on embezzlement that names the wrong bookkeeper – these can seriously damage someone’s reputation, and it is almost impossible to fully restore a damaged reputation. You could put someone out of a job, cause a person’s family and friends to view that person with suspicion, make someone into a laughing stock. In some cases, your story can even betray your own friends…”

Her voice faded off as if she had something on her mind. She quickly shook her head.

It was her last slide, and she quickly wrapped up her presentation. Professor Flanner (who insisted we call her Janice) took the microphone.

“15 minute break and then we’ll slit up for the panel session. Group 1 will meet in Jewel Auditorium, with myself, Lois and Libby as the panel, Group 2 will meet in Kresge, with a panel of Julia, Shauna and Anna.”

Janice Flanner was teaching a special, one semester-only elective course called “Women of Journalism” at Opal City University this spring, and she had arranged a special seminar with Lois Lane, Libby Lawrence, Julia Bridgeman, Shauna Alexander, and Anna Landers. I was lucky to be a senior, majoring in Journalism, and able to get a seat in the course! And we were awed at all the famous women our instructor knew as casual friends. To meet the most famous people in your own field was a wonderful thrill for all of us!

In the panel sessions, we got to ask questions of the panelists. Everyone had a single scripted question that Janice had approved in advance, and once all the scripted questions were out of the way, we were on our own. Ours was a pretty lively session, but I was glad when it was over, as that meant it was time for the cocktail reception – and a chance to talk to these famed members of our chosen profession in person!

With all the famous women in the room, you can imagine how stunned I was when Lois Lane and Libby Lawrence came up to me and wanted to talk about baseball! I didn’t think any of the students at Opal City University knew I had played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 through 1947. My advisor knew, but I had asked her to keep it quiet. But Libby was a big baseball fan, and she had recognized me. Who would of thunk it, a famous glamorous reporter recognizing a college student??

The three of us got on well, so we snagged some drinks and some of those little sandwiches and a corner table, and talked a lot. We were bothered for a while as most of my classmates dropped by to ask for autographs, but eventually, they left us alone. As I got to know these two a little better, my questions got a little bolder (maybe helped along by a cocktail… or two).

“Lois, what was bothering you earlier when you were talking about reporters maybe hurting their friends?”

“I guess I didn’t hide that very well, did I?” She didn’t even try to dodge the question. No wonder this woman was famous!

“Once during the war I wrote a scathing story about cowardly men who were avoiding military service by pretending to have disabilities. There was a reporter who worked for the Daily Star with an obscure condition that almost nobody has ever heard of it, called a heart murmur. He was a big, strong guy, but the military doctors down checked him. After people read my story, his friends (including me, what a friend, huh?) started to shun him. Finally, ashamed, he enlisted, and found some way to sneak around that part of the physical. He had a stroke during boot camp… I might as well have just shot him… I hope I leaned a lesson from that one!”

Libby hadn’t heard the story before, and we were both too stunned to speak. Should I express horror? Tell her how stupid she had been? Tell her it wasn’t her fault? From the expression on her face, she had already thought all those things, and none of them was satisfactory. She didn’t wait for us to recover, though – it was obvious she had told this story before, and got the same sort of reaction, and knew she was going to have to carry the conversation herself for a few moments.

“So, whenever I get the chance, I warn youngsters about misusing their power as a reporter. Most of them don’t believe me and have to learn their own lessons the hard way. I hope some of you got the message. Now let’s talk about something else.”

So we swapped yarns. Turns out they both knew a lot of the heroes and heroines of the All Star Squadron, and they’d had some pretty exciting adventures. I was kind of glum, though, when they didn’t ooh and ahh over my encounter with the Occulist. After all, hadn’t I done really well, for a girl? I expected at least a little bit of praise. But, from the moment I started they story, they had both been sure that it would have a successful conclusion. I realized they didn’t go for the “that was pretty good – for a girl” attitude. They expected to hold their own (and a little bit more, besides!) with the guys. And they already expected no less from me! Now I had to hide my pride, as I had only seconds earlier tried to hide my disappointment… They had accepted me.

*****************************

It was unusual for me to talk about the Occulist, but, other than baseball, I didn’t think I had any stories to match theirs. Later on (much later), I realized they would have enjoyed just as much hearing about my work in the shipyards in Cleveland. I had worked on some of the battleships that helped win the war, and as reporters, they both appreciated a good human-interest story. And they both also appreciated how the role of women in everyday life was changing – and how all us ‘Rosie the Riveter’ types had helped bring about those changes.

Suddenly there was a change in the ambient noise level. For an instant, it declined, and then women started screaming. From our corner table we could see my fellow students, our guests and the wait staff falling to the floor. A wave of some kind was sweeping across the room towards us and there were none left standing when it passed!

The ‘wave’ would reach Lois first, then me and finally Libby. I’m pretty fast, and I could have done _something_ before it reached me, but what? I was in a corner with nowhere to go. Then Libby grabbed my hand. “Don’t move!”

Right, what other choice did I have?

With her other hand, Libby seemed to be reaching for her purse under the table. Then I heard, far away and faintly, but absolutely clearly, the ringing of a big bell. Lois collapsed to the floor, but Libby and I were unaffected by whatever the ‘wave’ had been. She slid from her chair to the floor, pulling me with her. “I had no idea if that would work – never tried it before!” she said, very softly.

Funny what you notice in times like that? Libby had changed! And yet she hadn’t. Her voice sounded more resonant, more powerful, and even though she was unchanged physically, there was an aura of power around her that I could sense. As if suddenly she was charged and crackling with barely contained energy! And, I realized that I felt different as well! As if I had just finished a light workout, and now was prepared for a match – energetic, fluid, powerful and confident! Not crackling with energy as Libby was, but I felt as if I was suddenly at my physical peak.

“Whatever you did, it sure is nifty!” I whispered back. “So, what did you do?” Then the situation crashed back in on me, and I remembered that we were both hiding under a table in a private dining room filled with women who might be dead. “More to the point, what do we do now?”

Lois had slid down hear the table, so I carefully grabbed her wrist. There was a pulse! Libby must have seen that I was about to tell her so, as she held her finger in front of her lips, motioning me to silence. She pointed out that the women nearest us were breathing – the she mouthed the name “The Occulist” and raised her shoulders to show it was a question.

Later, both Lois and Libby told me that once a normal human has come into contact with super-beings, either heroes or villains, the laws of probability seem to go out the window. Preposterous coincidences such talking about a villain you haven’t seen in over 5 years, a thousand miles away, and being attacked by that self-same villain only seconds later, become commonplace. All I could do at the time was shrug.

Could it really be Biff? The results sure resembled the effects of his power. But what had saved the two of us? I hadn’t been immune to him before – as far as I could remember, nobody had been immune. If it was Biff, Libby had done something extraordinary.

“Of course, that aura of power surrounding her now is anything BUT ordinary.” I thought. I guess I accidentally whispered that, because Libby smiled. She whispered in my ear.

“Thanks! If we live through this, I’ll explain.”

That was a bucket of ice cold water! It was hard to believe I could die at a school function – but this ever-so-competent woman had just thrown it onto the table so matter-of-factly that I realized she was serious – deadly serious.

Part 2: Libby Takes Charge

“So, let’s assume this is the work of the Occulist. What happens next?” Libby whispered.

I was thinking fast. I had no idea what this was all about – Biff did have a grudge against me, but why show up today? But we couldn’t sit around here and wait. We needed to do something, right now, and we could always figure out the why later.

“His range used to be about 200 yards, but he was getting stronger, and that was years ago. My guess is that he would walk to the center of the main courtyard, take off his eye patch, and spin in a circle to knock out everyone on campus. For whatever reason, we seem to be immune to his power. He won’t be expecting anyone to be awake, so we can probably surprise him.”

Libby easily slung the unconscious Lois Lane over her shoulder. “Let’s get out of this dead end, then, and see what we can do about this mess.”

I could probably have carried Lois, but not nearly so easily. Libby had super strength! Suddenly it all came together – a bell ringing, a beautiful blonde, action-oriented and with super strength, and even without her mask I recognized that Libby Lawrence is Liberty Belle.

She saw the surprise in my eyes and winked. “Liberty Belle is retired. Besides, that’s classified information.” So I dropped the subject.

“Why are you taking Lois? If this is Biff, he’s probably looking for me.” We both took off our heels so we wouldn’t click when we walked. I went first, and peered cautiously out the door – nobody in the hall either way! I turned towards the center of campus, and Libby smiled.

“The best defense, eh? A surprise attack sounds like fun. But don’t make assumptions about what’s going on here, Lil! My guess is someone has plans for Superman’s girlfriend, here. Whenever super villains are involved, and Lois is around, it’s almost always about her. It’s why most of us ‘super’ types keep our private lives private,”

We headed down the corridor, with me scouting ahead. I let Libby catch up to me as I peeked around a corner in the hall. “If these guys are after Lois, they must think they’re prepared to deal with Superman.”

She gave an approving nod. “Good thinking! I _hope_ it’s not magic! I hate dealing with magic! Kryptonite would be ever so much easier.” She shook her head.

“Libby, there’s someone in the next corridor. Quick, up the stairs!” At the top of the stairs, we hid ourselves as best we could and watched about a half dozen armed men, one with a walkie-talkie, walk around the corner. The radioman seemed to be giving an update to someone on the other end.

They looked like stereotype gangsters – mean looking guys in cheap suits, carrying pistols and Tommy guns. You’ve seen them in any number of gangster movies, extras who don’t have speaking parts and get gunned down in battles with the other mob, or the police. They weren’t exactly being quiet, and they weren’t too alert. They never even looked up the stairs. I guess they trusted Biff’s powers Well, their mistake!

“We need to knock out the guy with the radio first” I suggested. “We can take them pretty easily”. “As long as I’m with Liberty Belle” I added in my thoughts.

With a quarterstaff, I might be able to take on that many unarmed bad guys, especially the way I felt right now. Guys that use guns all the time often depend on their guns too much, and they have trouble believing a girl with a stick can be dangerous. But I didn’t have my staff, and they definitely weren’t unarmed! “And save one for questions!”

Libby looked at me questioningly. “Are you sure you want to fight these guys? Guns change things! I can help you get off campus, and then take them myself.”

“Lib, I worked for weeks to help set up today’s events, and these guys, whoever they are, ruined everything. Of course I’m going to fight!” I hadn’t realized just how angry I was – have to be careful with that! “Don’t try to keep my out of this!” She started to protest, but I interrupted her. “OK, then why don’t you call some of your All Star friends? Johnny Quick could be here in no time!”

She smiled. “OK, I get your point. These guys are _our_ problem, and we’ll take care of it ourselves.” She put Lois down. “We better wake up sleeping beauty, here. If they are after her, she won’t be safe no matter where we stash her, and besides, she’s a pretty tough lady. We can use her help!”

“Does she know?” I asked. “I don’t want to give away any classified secrets!”

Libby smiled. “She must, but if she doesn’t, she’ll figure it out soon, I’m sure. Don’t worry about it; we need our full attention on the bad guys.”

She took one of Lois’s hands with one of hers, and rubbed her belt buckle with the other. Because I was prepared, I could faintly hear a bell ringing, a big bell a long way away. Lois sighed, and then spoke dreamily.

“Ah, Clark, that was nice!”

“Hey! I thought you were Superman’s girl!” Libby chuckled gleefully. “You must have been dreaming! Wait ’till I tell Clarkie!”

Lois was clearly puzzled about where she was and how she’d gotten there – and why she’d been asleep and dreaming. But that could wait – this was important. “You say one word to anyone, Lawrence, and you’re toast – crispy toast.”

“Yeah, like that’s something to worry about” Libby teased her back. “Now are we gonna sit here and bicker, or do you want to help us beat up the bad guys?”

Lois was immediately interested. “Bad guys? Shouldn’t we call”

“NO!” Libby and I responded at the same time. Lois ignored us.

“…in the story?” We should have known, I guess. Lois wasn’t any more interested in getting outside help than we were – even though she had no idea what was going on. That’s self-confidence!

“Lois, we don’t know the story yet. We think the Occulist is trying to kidnap you, and there’s a bunch of thugs with heaters running around the halls.” I was pretty sure that was the full story, so far, but then Libby added some details.

“We saw 7 guys, one of ‘em with a walkie-talkie, so there is at least one other group. They had only a general idea of where they might find Lois, and they are going to meet with another team near the dining room. They don’t expect to find anybody still awake. From their conversation, I think they’re working with the Occulist, but I doubt if he’s the boss, but just another hired hand. And they’ve got a tight schedule – Biff is going to make another sweep in 15 minutes!” She winked at me. “Oh, yeah, we figure their boss, whoever it is, has some way of dealing with Superman.”

Boy, was I impressed. I had tried to listen in on those mugs, but it just sounded like gabble to me.

Lois didn’t even question our assumption that the bad guys were after her. I’ve since tried to imagine what her life must be like, and I don’t like it! Just as cool as she had been over cocktails, she responded to Libby.

“I sure hope it’s kryptonite!”

Libby nodded. “So, I suggest we take out the boss, whoever it is, and then worry about the hired help later. Let’s go!”

She’s quite a take-charge gal, that Libby. I could see why she’d become world famous, in both her identities!

Part 3: The villains, revealed!

3 people were standing in the shade of the clock tower in the Opal City U quad. One of the men was wearing blue jeans and a shirt, and had a patch on his eye. The other two, a man and a woman, were both wearing costumes – though hers was much more exotic than his. The big guy in a costume was listening to the walkie-talkie.

“Boss, we found the sleeping beauties – but dat Lane dame ain’t one of ‘em. Are we in a hurry? Some of the boys could use a little r&r.”

The black-haired woman snatched the walkie-talkie from the hands of the boss – a big man in a funny mask. She actually hissed when she spoke!

“Hssss!” It wasn’t a humorous sound. It was a very dangerous sound and the danger was real. “Haston, you slimy weasel! If you or any of your boys even touch one of those women, I’ll rip your guts out and laugh while I watch you bleed to death! Or maybe I’ll get a little r&r myself, first, rrrrrroowwwwwwllll”

That growl might have sounded funny, coming from an ordinary woman, but this woman was anything but. Statuesque, lithe, beautiful and deadly, she was wearing an outfit of tiger skin, which included gloves with long nasty claws. Her growl, rather than her attire, convinced everyone listening that she was part ‘big cat’, Not that they had had doubts before.

She turned back to the big man. He was wearing a baseball uniform with a cloth hanging down in front of his face from under the cap. He was carrying a golf bag, but it contained more than golf clubs – a baseball bat, hockey and lacrosse sticks, and a tennis racquet, along with things that were less readily identified.

“Well, big shot, it looks like another one of your plans messed up! It was going to be so easy, we’d just march right in, your new lackey would put everyone to sleep, and we’d snatch Lane before anyone knew what happened! Right! I should know better than to follow your lead by now! Oh, and did I ever tell you just how stupid that mask looks?”

“In fact, you have – probably a thousand times since yesterday. Shut it, will ya?”

In turn, he faced the third person. “OK, Redondo, what’s the deal? You said Lane was going to be here!”

“And she is – I saw her myself earlier. I’ve been watching DeLuna a long time, waiting for a chance like this! If you’d let me act alone, I could have caught Lane for you and DeLuna for me! And I’m no lackey!” He drew himself up. He was a big man and well built, an ex-high school football star who kept in shape, but he looked like a boy next to the Sportsmaster. “You couldn’t have pulled this off without my power.”

The Huntress responded. “Then it looks like maybe Lane wasn’t affected by your precious power, little boy. Crusher?” she turned back to the big man “I say we get out of here now – and leave Dr. Occult here behind!”

“Agreed!” He turned back to Redondo. “Your try-out for membership in the Injustice Gang is over, and you failed.” The two turned and headed towards the main parking lot.

The Occulist turned towards them and reached for his eye patch, but chilling words from the Huntress stopped him cold.

“Try it and you’ll die with your entrails stuffed in your mouth, punk! Remember, I’m immune to your power – even if tall, dark and ugly here…” and she jabbed Sportsmaster with her elbow “swoons over you!”

“I know you’ve always wanted a Cord, sweetheart” Sportsmaster was talking to the Huntress as if they hadn’t just been screaming at each other. “There’s a really nice one in the parking lot – I guess they’re paying some professor too much!”

I don’t know how she could possibly have known, but I guess she hadn’t been called the Tigress for nothing, earlier in her life. Somehow, she sensed the ambush Libby and I had set up.

“Look out!” She pushed Sportsmaster aside, with surprising strength, and leaped the other way, just as I dropped on her from the arch through the wall.

Libby was rushing them from the side, and she smashed into Sportsmaster and they fell in a tangle. His bag went flying, throwing sports equipment all around

The Huntress managed to take a swipe at me as I fell through the space she had just vacated. I was able to avoid it, but I landed awkwardly. I used my momentum to roll away from her and came to my feet a good 15 feet distant. Unfortunately, the passage through the wall is floored with cobblestone, so I was a little bit battered already – and the fight hadn’t even started! I was more than a little nervous – fighting a super-villainess! This might be a little out of my league.

“Ah, dearie! You must be that DeLuna witch that poor Biff hates so much? Slapped him down for getting too frisky, did you? I sympathize – he’s really a worm. He says you’re some kind of great fighter, though? Think you’re a match for the Huntress?”

Actually, without surprise on my side, I wasn’t sure. What was I thinking, only 3 minutes ago?!?!

We had been cautiously circling each other. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Lois tackling Biff out on the green, and Libby was squaring off with the Sportsmaster. We had hoped to end this in a hurry, but it looked like we weren’t going to be that lucky.

The six of us were pretty busy for the next 15 minutes. I didn’t see the whole thing, so I had to put together the whole story afterwards from their stories. Still, I think it happened pretty much this way:..

Part 3: Battle Royale

Lois and Lily had both argued when Libby had assigned their opponents. Lois because she got the weakest of the 3 opponents, and Lily because she wanted a rematch with the Sportsmaster. But Libby was adamant.

“Last time you fought him, Lily, he didn’t have his weapons. He’s a lot more dangerous now!” Lily thought she was more dangerous now, too. The last time she’d fought the Sportsmaster, she’d just been a teenager. But she was willing to let Liberty Belle take the lead, for now.

“Lois, you should be able to beat the kid easily, and then you can help whoever needs it!” The flattery worked, and Lois subsided. Lily realized that Lois must know about Libby, too, otherwise she probably wouldn’t have deferred so readily to Libby’s direction.

Biff was bigger than Lois, and according to Lily, he had been through Army boot camp – in fact, been an outstanding boot until the accident that gave him his power. Still, Lois had unflinchingly faced the most dangerous beings on Earth, human and otherwise, and she wasn’t going to be intimidated by this thug! (Well, OK, maybe she _had_ flinched, just a little – but Biff didn’t know that!) She was glad she was carrying the small purse with the long straps today. She dumped everything out, and filled it up with gravel. About 4 pounds, she decided. Just about perfect!

Biff turned to watch when Lily and Libby attacked his ex-partners. He almost didn’t hear Lois rush towards him, but she made some kind of noise at the last second, and he managed to turn so her shoulder smashed into his stomach rather than the small of his back. He flew backward and crashed to the lawn. Lois managed to land on top of him, and she wished the two of them were on the cobblestones rather than the grass. She reached for her purse to club him on the head, but it was missing! She looked around and realized she’d dropped it during the tackle.

Biff was used to getting tackled and he recovered much more quickly than Lois had expected. He threw her off, and managed to whack her in the head with his elbow while doing so. Lois was somewhat stunned, but she shook it off and dropped into a martial arts stance.

“Geez, does everybody fight like that these days?” Biff was disgusted. “Well, it won’t do you any good!” He lowered his head and rushed at her, arms outstretched. Lois didn’t really know any martial arts. She had been hoping to intimidate him. No luck! But she remembered something she had seen the Phantom Lady do once, back in the early years of the War. She started to fall backwards, and when Biff reached her, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her, falling backwards the whole time. He was off balance, and with the added momentum she gave him, he was flying over top of her. She added her own twist, a kick between the legs, and Biff was screaming as he rolled several times. Lois felt her jacket tear and she had time for an irrelevant thought – how _had_ Sandy managed to fight in that skimpy outfit she wore?

Biff was back on his feet and moving gingerly – almost as if he was trying to limp on both feet at the same time. He pulled aside his eye patch and glared at Lois, but there was no effect. His power apparently didn’t work on Lois. He wasn’t totally surprised; it hadn’t worked on the Huntress, either. He moved back to the attack, but this time he was more careful.

Biff went into a boxing stance, both arms up in front of himself, on guard, and approached Lois. She wasn’t about to let him close with her, so she backed away. She had one trick left, and it had better do the job – so she needed to set it up perfectly. She backed onto the gravel, and it hurt her feet through the stockings (and of course, wrecked a brand new pair of silk stockings – something he would pay for!), so she changed direction. She risked a quick glance behind her, and Biff used the chance to rush her. When Lois turned and saw him leaping forward, she tried to run backwards, but instead she stumbled and fell. Biff roared with triumph – he had her now!

But as she had planned, her right hand fell on the purse strap… She had time to whip her arm around once and then she threw the purse, almost like a stone from a sling.

“Just like David and Goliath!” she yelled in satisfaction as it hit Biff smack in the middle of the forehead. There was a sickening thud, and he fell to the ground unconscious. His own momentum, added to the force of her throw, had done the trick! She hoped she hadn’t cracked his skull, but that was her problem, not his!

The strap from her purse doubled as a rope to tie up the unconscious villain. She tore up his shirt and used some strips to bind his eye patch in place. Enough people had taken unexpected naps today already! She was about to kick him, in revenge for her stockings – but she wanted him conscious for that.

She shook in reaction, and realized that maybe she ought to get some formal training in self-defense. Maybe Superman knew some tricks he could show her.

*****

Lily was physically overmatched by the Huntress, who was stronger, more savage, and wearing gloves which held razor-sharp claws attached. She moved like a cat. Fortunately, she also fought like a cat, savagely but with no science. Using all her skill, Lily still had to fall back or be torn to shreds. She needed a weapon of some sort to offset the advantage of those claws.

The Huntress drew back after a blocked attack, and instead of counterattacking, Lily jumped backwards and quickly scanned the nearby cobblestones. Behind the Huntress, out of reach, she saw a pool cue, and off to her left she saw a sword, both of which had fallen from the Sportsmaster’s equipment bag. Not a blunt fencing epee, but a real sword, probably a Civil War cavalry sword.

She looked at the sword for a split instant too long, and just barely escaped being gutted by a lunge. She managed to block the claws down and away, and she returned her full attention to the fight. She was still retreating, but she altered her direction a little bit, so she would pass closer to the lost sword. She was getting tired, and her blocks were a little slower. The Huntress sensed that Lily was tiring, eagerly pressed the attack, and left herself open. Lily launched a desperate counter-attack, battering aside the Huntress’s defense and actually managing to land a blow to the head. She couldn’t keep this up long! But she wasn’t planning to – she suddenly broke off and ran for the sword.

The Huntress wasn’t surprised. She had seen Lily notice the sword, and she was expecting this break towards the weapon. She launched herself forward, faster than Lily was moving, and landed between Lily and her target, hissing like an angry cat. She expected Lily to run right into her attack, and a quick end to this fight would follow!

But Lily had all along been following her own plan. She turned and before the Huntress could change directions, she had the pool cue in her hands! It was a little short for quarterstaff work, but not bad. She wasn’t too surprised to discover that it seemed to be made of a light metal allow rather than wood – the Sportsmaster had obviously designed this for use as a weapon when he wasn’t hustling pool!

Part 4: Catfight

A staff increased her effective striking range and speed and any blows she landed would hurt a lot more! She felt much more confident than she had just seconds ago.

Lily held her staff vertically between them. the top closer to the Huntress than the bottom. The Huntress leapt forwards and then dodged to Lily’s right, slashing as she flashed by. Lily rotated the top of the staff quickly to the right, and it smashed into the top of the villain’s right arm, knocking it down, and the Huntress felt her entire hand go numb. Lily turned easily, keeping her foe in front of her.

The Huntress spun completely around, and as she did, her leg came up in a sort of ‘backhand’ sweep. Lily barely pulled the staff back in line in time to block the kick. She realized that the Huntress had claws in her shoes as well, and that kick had been aimed at her throat!

Even though she managed to block, Lily was knocked backwards. She turned a stumble into a leap, and put another 4 feet between herself and her foe.

“You can’t win, little mouse, even with your stick! I was trained to fight by Manhunter, the greatest fighter ever!” Huntress launched another attack, spinning, slashing, kicking and snarling, and Lily was hard-pressed to block everything. One slashing blow would have ripped across her throat, but she barely managed to twist in time, and took the blow on her shoulder – tearing the shoulder of her blouse to tatters. She had never liked the ‘padded shoulders’ look for women, but just now that shoulder pad had reduced a potentially deadly wound to an irritating slash. Lily hoped the Huntress kept her claws clean!

“Whatever happened to you? When you were Manhunter’s partner, the Tigress, you were one of my heroes!” Lily needed a break. She had noticed that for some reason, many super villains felt some need to talk to their opponents during a fight. It is tough to talk and fight your best at the same time, though.

The Huntress screamed and leaped! Lily was astonished – she would need a run and a springboard to duplicate a leap like that! The villain was coming at her like a missile, claws outstretched! With no time to counter, Lily simply collapsed to the ground, the rolled quickly to one side and used her momentum to spring to her feet. As she turned to face the Huntress, her skirt tangled around her legs and she stumbled, making her wish she’d said to hell with convention the morning and worn a pantsuit. This outfit was already ruined! And that stumble was probably going to get her killed!

She was astonished when she recovered and the Huntress still hadn’t attacked again. But the villainess was talking.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through since then!” she hissed. “I died in battle – and my soul carried to Valhalla by the Valkyrie Gurda. You can’t imagine how awful it was!”

Lily was stunned. She knew a little Norse mythology. “Valhalla is heaven, isn’t it? How could you not like it there?”

“It’s heaven for fallen male warriors, little mouse. Big strong Viking he-men who only want 4 things. Food, ale, fighting, and supple, willing women – usually in that order, too! It’s not heaven – it’s Odin’s own person blue movie!”

This break was helping Lily get her second wind. “Not every man who dies bravely in combat is like that, surely?”

“Isn’t that how ALL men are?” The Huntress whirled into another attack. This time she feinted a leap, and rushed forward along the ground instead. Lily swung the heavy cue two-handed like a baseball bat, forcing the Huntress to duck under it. She then leaped again, and Lily spun to the side. She went the same way as she had rolled before, and the Huntress seemed to have anticipated it. Her claw slashed out and shredded the front of Lily’s oh-so-expensive blouse. Lily wondered why she wasn’t dead?

“You’re right, though – the human definition of a hero has changed since Odin set up Valhalla – but not their entrance criteria. Back then, men were monsters and women submitted – or they were beaten! Well, I submit to no one, little mouse!”

Then without warning, the Huntress charged, and when Lily blocked, she grabbed the staff with both hands and twisted, then swept her foot out in a kick. The claws struck Lily at waist level, tearing through her leather belt and slicing through the material of her skirt. Once again she wondered why she wasn’t dead. Then she realized – cats play with their prey!

“Nor do I, ghost! And I am no one’s prey!” Lily was furious! She began an angry determined attack. A wide sweep with the staff, and the Huntress jumped straight up to avoid it. As she whirled, Lily swept a back kick at the villainess, who tried to roll with the kick, but still was knocked sideways. Lily kept whirling and the staff struck the Huntress in the ribs with an audible crack while she was still in the air. She yowled in pain, but managed to wrap herself around the staff, and her momentum managed to pull it from Lily’s hands. She then threw it as far as she could.

“Enough! No more games, no more toys!”

A baseball fell to the ground between the two women and exploded, releasing a gas of some kind. Lily’s eyes were irritated immediately, and she recognized that it must be tear gas. She quickly backed away, and tore a patch from her shredded blouse, which she held over her mouth and nose. That effectively put an end to her battle with the Huntress, which is what the Sportsmaster had intended.

He had his duffle bag back in his left hand, with another baseball in the right.

“Hey, doll!” he yelled at the Huntress. “This dame…” he threw the baseball at Libby, who dodged lithely “has some connection with the JSA!” The ball hit the courtyard wall and exploded, blasting a hole through it. “I think she’s managed to contact the Bat… We better beat it.” He looked over where Lois had Biff tied up. “Too bad the punk got captured – but he’d never make it in the Injustice Society!”

The two ducked through the hole in the wall, with Sportsmaster providing cover by throwing various pieces of exploding sporting equipment he pulled from the duffle bag- some tennis balls, a hockey puck, a boomerang, a handful of arrows. Lily had seen the corresponding bow somewhere on the ground during her battle with the Huntress. They hopped in a very fast-looking sports car. The Huntress was complaining as they roared off.

“I thought you were going to get that Cord for me!” was the last thing they heard from the Sportsmaster and the Huntress.

Libby came up to Lily with a sly smile on her face. “Wow, hon, where do you shop for lingerie? Johnny would absolute kill to see me dressed like that! Nice color combination, too! But, I don’t suppose you planned to let the whole school see your unmentionables, did you?”

Lily looked down and gasped in shock. Her blouse was in tatters and her skirt had fallen in shreds, no doubt exactly what the Huntress had intended.

“That witch! To think, she used to be one of my heroes!”

Lois ran up with the blazers that the women had discarded earlier. “Here, these will help – but there really isn’t anyone else to see. Biff put them all to sleep, and I put _him_ to sleep myself.” She looked Lily over critically. “I think I want to know where you do your shopping!” She grinned at Libby.

“OK, you guys, it isn’t funny any more! Libby, is Batman really about to show up?” Lib just smiled. Lily grabbed the blazers from Lois and put her own on, then tried to figure out how to tie the other two together to make a skirt.

“Lois!, I have a duffle bag with some workout gear in my car, do you think you could go get it for me?” She handed Lois the key. “The gold Cord in the main lot, on the passenger seat! I’ll meet you in the little girls’ room right inside the entrance.” She turned and ran. Lois headed for the parking lot. And Libby found a phone in the main administrative office and called in the story.

Part 5: Conclusion

Once Lily had changed and Libby had notified the police as well as her news bureau, the ladies only had a short wait before the authorities arrived. They had only moments to agree on an edited version of the events that took place, one that left out the details of their battles with the Huntress, Sportsmaster and Biff.

It was several hours before they could sit down in a quiet corner table at Giovanni’s Ristorante and fill each other in on all that had happened.

“…and she took off with the Sportsmaster, berating him for leaving the fight too early. So, what did you do to him, Libby? It looked like he’d been through a wringer.”

“I should hope so, after what he pulled on me. Which was just about everything he had in that gimmicked duffel bag. When we started in on them, I didn’t seem him at first. Then two arrows struck by my feet and exploded. I didn’t consciously see them coming at me, but must have sensed it because I was already jumping when they struck. The third arrow came from above and to the right, and I looked up to see him on a small terrace. There was a long drape near it, I jumped at it and swung up there. He was still trying to nock another arrow when I caught him with a spinning kick and knocked the bow out of his hands.”

Libby paused as the waiter came with their drinks. Sipping from her wine glass, she continued.

“I’d heard about him from Green Lantern and Flash, but I don’t think I ever believed their stories about his souped-up sporting equipment. I mean, come on, a tennis racquet with razor-wire strings? A lacrosse stick with a shotgun in one end, and lobbing hand grenades with the other? Exploding jacks?”

“Jacks? But those are kids’ toys!” exclaimed Lois.

“They also make great caltrops,” commented Lily. When the other ladies turned to stare, she grinned. “Hey, some of the boys in my neighborhood liked sneaking around the yard. So I sharpened a bag of jacks and scattered them near the house. They didn’t come back.”

“It was the jacks that blew away the railing on that terrace, and when I tackled the Sportsmaster we both rolled over the edge and dropped to the floor below. He’s muscular, but he still makes a good cushion for landing.”

“What happened after that?”

“I jumped up, but he seemed stunned. He still had some sense, though, and pulled an oversized pistol from inside that umpire’s chest protector. He made some remark about his starting pistol being the end of me.”

“Lame,” echoed both Lois and Lily.

“You get used to it. There was a potted tree there, and I grabbed the trunk and brought it down between us. I heard the gun go off as I slipped under the tree, and he was running towards you and the Huntress. I took off after him, scooping up a couple chunks of stone as I ran. But he made it past you guys and blew the hole in the wall before I could catch up.”

Lily held her wine glass by the stem and twirled it between her fingers. “Whew. I thought I could handle him again, but I had trouble enough with the Huntress! I don’t think I could have stood up to him.”

“What are you talking about, girl? Are you saying the Huntress was easier, just because she’s a woman?” Lois’ eyes flashed as she spoke. “What was I telling you in the lecture today? The only thing holding a woman back from being just as smart, just as strong, just as tough as any man, is her attitude. I know members of the JSA who will attest that the Huntress is far more dangerous in a fight than the Sportsmaster and his gimmicks. With your martial arts training, it made more sense for you to go up against her, while Libby took on his gimmicks with her, umm, special abilities.”

“Amen to that, Lois.” Libby raised her glass. “Here’s to us, ladies. Let nothing hold us back.”

The three raised their glasses and touched them over the center of the table, Lois and Lily echoing Libby’s toast.

The End