Arch Frenemies

Part 6: Indestructible

Galaxy Girl repeatedly tried to swallow the lump of sadness and self-hatred that seemed to have attached itself to her throat.

She had only one job, one thing in life she was supposed to excel at; it was pretty simple: BE A HERO. Her heart was heavy with her father's disappointment, her pride wounded that he already considered her to be a failure. She slammed door of the pod shut angrily, and the thing shot off its rails, ramming into the wall. "Oh Crud!" she cursed to herself, immediately regretting it, groaning as she looked at the crack in the cement which the metal transporter had created upon impact.

Without a minute to lose, she was heading straight for Toxic. He believed his bomb was still active, and she hoped she could deal with him before he put the whole world into another panic. Her flight speed seemed to be as depressed as she felt. A single tear was rolling down her cheek. She wasn't as immune to sad feelings as everyone probably thought, since she was a Superhero. Galaxy Girl got the sudden urge to turn around, fly straight to back to bed and just scream into her pillow, but she had other things to deal with. Protecting the city would always come first; over any sort of emotional wounds or terrible feelings.

She landed on the steps leading up to Toxic's lair and brought her fist back, ready to punch through the wall, but then she noticed the mortar was still wet, as if the wall had been freshly rebuilt.
"You don't always have to crash through my walls, you know!" his familiar complaint nagged in her mind. Next, the hero did something that was totally strange to her. She reached out for the new brass door knob and concentrated hard on containing her strength. She attempted the twist and pull, a motion she had seen so many humans perform with ease before, but had never had to do herself because all the doors at home and at Headquarters were automatic, or opened with a simple push. At her attempt, the entire knob ripped out of the frame in her grasp, and the whole door swung open with a loud creak.

And now, there she stood, awkwardly holding the brass object in her hand as Toxic stared at her, one of his dark eyebrows arched highly, with a slightly dumbfounded expression on his face, his favorite blaster aimed directly at her chest. "Sorry..." she found herself apologizing to him. Save people from burning buildings, not a problem. Carry a bomb into the atmosphere, no biggie. But she couldn't even open a simple door, and it embarrassed her, showing on her cheeks as a faint blush. "Well, that's good for a change." he stated, slightly amazed. "But hey, no worries," he chuckled, noticing her sad face. "It's an easy fix." Toxic motioned to the knob.

"You are a little early for the main event, but all the same, I can battle you before I detonate the gas, and take over the world." He swaggered around the room with his usual arrogance. Galaxy Girl shook her head.
"Cybervore disarmed your bomb earlier."

"Damn it...." he groaned, rolling his eyes with annoyance. Dropping the door knob, she balled her fists and took on her regular fighting stance.
"Can we not do the banter tonight? Let's just get this over with, I'm really not in the mood," the Hero pleaded.

"Not in the mood for banter?" Toxic gasped in shock.
These words were coming from the hero who lived to banter, daughter of the guy who practically invented it. The idea that she didn't relish the idea of bantering him seemed unbelievable. "Do you know how long I work on these sarcastic comebacks and insults?" he snapped at her, pointing the blaster towards the floor.
"I put a lot of effort into our battles. Is it so wrong of me to expect you to do the same?" Toxic continued to rant like a full-blown pop diva. "Oh no, not tonight you don't get an easy way out, I've worked too hard on this!" To Galaxy Girl he seemed genuinely disappointed and a little mad. She bit her lip, and broke his gaze to look at the floor.

Toxic tilted his head in curiosity and slowly his eyes softened.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Oddly, the villain's voice was soft and contained a hint of concern as he saw Galaxy Girl in the midst of a rare bought of sadness. Galaxy rubbed the sides of her forehead with her fingers. "No," she answered honestly. "I'm not okay." She was mad, sad, disappointed...so many emotions weaved into one, and she couldn't even process them! Toxic lowered his gun, shaking his head. "You're not the only one," he spoke under his breath.
He quickly regained his composure. "Oh no you don't! I can't battle you in this state, it's no fun!" Toxic holstered his weapon and walked around her to a sliding closet in the wall. Her blue eyes following him curiously. The bad guy slid the door open to reveal a large coat rack, which was filled with many different styles of long coats. The Hero tried to figure out what he was up to this time.