MISC: La Femme Fantastique

[Phantasm]

Pullemouttayerhat Productions
A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of StarFall Innovations
Parent Company of StarFall Comics
Proudly Presents:

LA FEMME FANTASTIQUE
One-Shot

Cover: A psychadelic swirl of colors centered around a gold ring set
with a gemstone, with two deformed female figures - one dressed in a
strapless leotard, the other in a sleeveless, low-cut, one piece
bodysuit, both in a patterns of red and blue - are stretched in a
manner as to imply they're falling into it.

	Paris certainly has its charms, La Femme Fantastique thought to
herself as she perched atop the Eiffel Tower, gazing out across the
city as the sun set behind her.  Times like this, the city seemed ...
perfect.
	On the observation deck below, Femme Fantastique's teenage sister and
sidekick, La Fille Fantastique, paced back and forth impatiently as
the latest pop hit repeated itself on her iPod for the hundredth time.
	"I'm bored, sis," she complained.  "Why do we come here every
evening? It's not the sunset; you always look away from it!"
	"Take a look out there," Femme Fantastique told her.  "What do you
see?"
	"The same thing I saw last night," Fille remarked curtly, "and last
week, and last month, and the last six months before that.  Paris.
Millions of people.  Lots of buildings.  Nothing new."
	Femme sighed.  "You still don't see it."  This wasn't a question.
	Fille frowned.  "And what, exactly, am I supposed to see, sis?  The
beauty of the city?  The energy of life?  A cloud in the shape of the
Holy Madonna above Notre Dame?"  She looked out at the city again.
"Not seeing it.  But I do see some unsuspecting playmates coming out
of the bank over on Bonaparte."
	"Well, Fille, let's not disappoint them."
	The two, La Femme Fantastique and La Fille Fantastique, leapt into
the air, flying swiftly over the streets and rooftops of Paris to land
in front of the bank, where a half dozen men, all dressed in black
leather with black ski masks, were running out of it, their hands
filled with bags full of Euros.
	"Drop the money and surrender," La Femme Fantastique declared, "and
you won't get hurt."  Beside her, La Fille Fantastique cracked her
knuckles in anticipation.
	"Get her!" one of the men shouted, drawing a pistol and firing it at
the Fantastic Duo.  Without a word, the two women sprang into action.
Their armored bracers deflected the bullets easily.
	Fille darted right; Femme strode left.  Forced to divide their
gunfire, the crooks fired randomly at both of them, making it easier
for the two heroines to knock them unconscious one at a time.
	"Well," Fille stated, picking her iPod off the ground where it had
fallen during the fight, "that was a nice warm-up.  The night still
needs a headliner act, though."
	"Indeed it does," stated a tall man in a dark blue business suit,
bowler hat, and wearing dark sunglasses, as he stepped from a nearby
alley into the light.  "Fortunately, I believe I can provide that."
	"Who are you?" Fille asked.
	"Courbtre de l'Esprit," he replied, bowing low with a flourish,
"though our American counterparts might find the name 'Mindbender' to
be more to their liking.  And I must say, having not just one but
*both* of Paris's own super-heroines walk right into my trap is quite
the bonus.  I *had* expected to have to hunt down the other one.  I
thank you for saving me the trouble."
	"Yeah, well, your so-called 'trap' wasn't very effective!" Fille
proclaimed, her hands on her hips and striking a dramatic pose.  "You
need to train your goons better."
	Mindbender laughed at this.  "My dear, impetuous child! They were
mere bait."  He raised his arms across his chest, the palms of his
hands resting on his shoulders.  On his right hand, a large,
multicolored gemstone set in a gold ring flashed.  "Don't you hate
your sister for controlling you, La Fille Fantastique?"
	"Fille, back away!" Femme Fantastique cried out, moving to shield her
sister from whatever Mindbender had planned.  Unseen by Femme, Fille
nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on Mindbender's ring.
	"Then do something about it," Mindbender ordered.  "Beat her up."
	With a growl, Fille Fantastique grabbed her older sister by the
shoulder, spun her around, and landed a solid, full-force left hook to
the jaw that sent the older heroine flying.  Fille took off after her,
leaving Mindbender chuckling to himself.
	"Kids today. So easily swayed."

	La Femme Fantastique landed without her usual grace in the middle of
the Seine.  The splash she made was followed almost immediately by an
even larger one as La Fille Fantastique slammed into her.  The two
grappled for several minutes under the water.  Just as Femme thought
her lungs were about to burst, she felt her feet touch the river
bottom.
	Grasping her younger sister in a bear hug - which wasn't as hard as
it sounded, what with Fille had her own hands around Femme's neck -
Femme kicked off the river bed, shooting out of the Seine at close to
the speed of sound, flying almost into the stratosphere.
	"Snap out of it, sis!" Femme said, trying to reason with her enraged
sister,  "Don't you see? Mindbender has you under some sort of spell!"
	"He's *right*!" Fille's voice filled with rage and hate.  "Ever since
we were kids, you've been in charge! A control freak!  And ever since
we got our powers, you've been even worse!"
	The two traded blows in mid-air.  Femme tried not to hurt her sister,
deflecting and blocking more punches than she threw.  Fille, however,
had no such inhibitions and pummeled Femme mercilessly.
	The two landed in the courtyard of the Louver, cracking the pavement
as they fell to the ground.  Onlookers fled in fright.
	"I'm through being your *sidekick*, Femme Fantastique!" Fille yelled,
kicking the prone form on her sister in the stomach as she emphasized
"sidekick".  Then she flew off.

	Mindbender golf-clapped as he approached Femme Fantastique's prone
form.
	"Now *that* was some quality entertainment," he said, kneeling down
next to her.  "Your sister must have some pent-up anger issues she
never told you about.  Now that she's fulfilled my direct command,
she'll probably be breaking free of my 'conditioning' in a few
minutes."
	"Good to know," Femme groaned, sitting up and staring daggers at
him.  "Keep talking, and she'll kick your ass when she returns."
	"I don't think so."  His ring started pulsing rapidly; in her
weakened state, Femme Fantastique couldn't keep her eyes off it.
"Come with me, my pet, while we discuss your *new* role in the world."
	Slowly, almost robotically, La Femme Fantastique stood and followed
Mindbender to his waiting limousine.

	Two minutes later, La Fille Fantastique returned to the Louver.  She
expected to see her sister there; even after the few minutes that had
passed, she should still be there, if slightly more mobile than when
she'd left.
	"Sis?" she asked softly.  She received no answer, save the hateful
glares of some of the Louver patrons who had witnessed the earlier
fight.

	As they drove through the streets of Paris in the back of his limo,
Mindbender turned to his reluctant, mind-controlled "guest".
	"La Femme Fantastique," he commented.  "A very presumptuous name.
What is your *real* name, Femme Fantastique?"
	"Alexa Charboneau," she replied in a soft monotone.
	"Alexa." He repeated the name to himself a few times, savoring the
way it rolled off the tongue.  "A very beautiful name for a very
beautiful woman."  She blushed, but had to admit it was true.  She and
her sister *were* beautiful, and had been ever since they'd received
their powers.
	"A warrior's name," he continued.  "After Alexander the Great.  He
was a warrior king, you know.  You, too, are a warrior. No?"
	"Yes," she breathed softly.  "I am a warrior."
	"Not just *any* warrior," he told her, "but a *powerful* warrior."
	"Yes. I am a powerful warrior." This, too, she realized right away,
was the truth.  Her powers of strength, speed, agility, durability,
and flight made her a true force to be reckoned with.
	"You were named for Alexander the Great," Mindbender told her again,
emphasizing the point.  "He, too, was a powerful warrior. He was born
to rule, was he not?"
	"Yes," she breathed softly.  "He was."  Unbidden, an image flashed
through her head of herself and her equally powerful sister leading an
army . . . an army of conquest.  She shook her head, forcing the image
to recede.
	"You were born to rule," Mindbender told her.  It was as if he'd seen
that brief image in her mind.  His ring was practically glowing by
this point.
	"No," she said, but with little conviction.  "I am a hero. I serve; I
don't rule."
	"Listen to me, Alexa.  Have I ever lied to you?"  She thought about
this.  He was evil; he was a mind-controller who had briefly turned
her sister against her.  But the more she ran every sentence he had
ever told her since they had met, she could find no lied.  Even what
he'd told Fille had apparently been the Truth!  Why else would she
have attacked Alexa so ... so *savagely*?!
	"No," she said softly after a minute's hesitation, "you have not."
	"Then believe me, Alexa," he told her, "when I say that you were born
to rule.  Imagine, Queen Alexa the First of France.  Maybe even
*Empress* Alexa.  Empress of all Europe."  'And maybe more,' he
silently appended.
	The image of her and her sister leading an army returned to her.
This time, she did not fight it.  Instead, that piece of her that had
been told to believe Mindbender embraced the idea.  She *would* be
Queen.  Her sister would be at her side as a warrior princess.  They'd
conquer Europe together.  Except. . . .
	"What of Fifi?" she asked.
	"Who?"
	"La Fille Fantastique."
	"Her name is 'Fifi'?!" He could help but laugh, long and loud.  "Oh,
that's rich.  No wonder she has so much pent up anger, with a name
like that and being saddled with a superhero name as 'La *Fille*
Fantastique'!"
	"The press named us," Alexa told him.
	"And a name given by the press is hard to outgrow.  Don't worry about
Fifi.  I'll help her."
	"Thank you."
	"Still," he mused.  His ring had stopped glowing, only briefly
flashing.  "There *is* one problem before you can take your rightful
place as queen, Your Highness."
	"The President."  Mindbender nodded.  "Leave him to me and Fifi."
	Mindbender smiled.  He was now in control of one of the most powerful
supers on the planet, soon to be two, as soon as he could have another
"chat" with La Fille Fantastique.  And through them he would control
almost all of France, and maybe, if nothing went wrong - which he was
sure was not going to happen - all of Europe.
	Maybe even the world.
	And best of all, to his mind, he could never be implicated.  The
world would thing that Le Soeurs Fantastique had become conquerors on
their own.
	Plus, he had his magic ring to get him out of trouble.
	Yes, he thought to himself, this is the perfect city.

Two Weeks Later:
	A typical French family was sitting down to breakfast with the
kitchen television on when La Femme Fantastique made an announcement.
	"Today," she proclaimed, "I don a crown not worn since Louis the
Sixteenth.  It is a solemn moment, and one that says to the world,
'the fighting spirit of the French is back'!  For too long we have
been regarded as a joke, as quitters, as ... as *Germany's speed
bump*! No longer!
	"I have left Parliament intact in order to effect a smoother
transition back to our beloved monarchy.  For most of my subjects,
life will not change, except perhaps now we will walk tall with
pride."
	The camera pulled back, to show Le Soeurs Fantastique dressed
regally, crowns upon their brows.  La Femme Fantastique held the
ousted President of the (now-dissolved) Republic of France by the
neck.  "This man resisted arrest when the monarchy was restored,
refusing to relinquish his power.  And as my first act as
Queen. . . ."
	She snapped his neck.
	The father reached over and turned off the television.  One thought
ran through his mind, "What was that?"

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Author's Notes:

	You may have noticed that I did not label this issue as being a
StarFall title.  When I ran this past Robin, he basically echoed my
doubts as to whether upsetting the status quo of the universe in this
way was a good thing.
	In essense, StarFall is meant to be, on average, *lighthearted*
stuff, where the people trust their superheroes, much like DC before
Flashpoint.  I suppose I've been reading too much Garth Ennis's _The
Boys_ lately, and it came out in this issue.  We don't have anything
against upsetting the status quo in other ways, but this would
basically start turning StarFall into a setting where the heroes were
hated and feared for being more powerful . . . so we decided this tale
is best left as a non-StarFall title.
	This isn't to say that a version of Le Soeures Fantastique don't
exist in StarFall.  I kind of like the characters, so I may bring them
in at some point.
	In case it's not obvious, La Femme Fantastique is based off Wonder
Woman, and La Fille Fantastique was based, at least in part, on Donna
Troy/Wonder Girl.